The multinational IBM has signed an agreement with the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service to develop foundational artificial intelligence (AI) models based on Spanish and the co-official languages in Spain. The MoU will promote collaboration between the two parties in the field of AI and AI supercomputing, as well as advancing the development and practical deployment of open, ethical and responsible generative AI technologies in Spain.

As part of the project launched, the US company is sharing a vision with the Government of Spain of creating a set of foundational models based on Spanish and the co-official languages, both large language models (LLM) and small language models (SLM). Creating models designed entirely in Spanish will help to improve the sustainability of AI by reducing biases and proposing competitive alternatives for Spanish industry.

High impact on productivity
Future models will be refined through advanced techniques that will provide direct improvements to the community and foster the formation of an ecosystem of AI creators and builders who will access the assets developed through this collaboration. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says that this will have a great impact on productivity for many industries in the economy and also on Europe's strategic autonomy.

IBM's open-source AI framework will increase innovation, transparency and security and give its users a technologically competitive position in the market. As part of the agreement, IBM will also seek to develop AI-enhanced techniques that contribute to discovering, developing and validating new materials for semiconductor production.

Supercomputing applications
Coordination between the different Spanish authorities will facilitate the widespread use of AI in the public sector and in the Spanish business community. In addition to ensuring demand for the product to be developed by IBM, it will generate competitive advantages for companies of all sizes. The multinational will also collaborate with the Government of Spain on researching and developing AI technology for supercomputing applications.

IBM Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research, Dario Gil, explained, “We will leverage IBM's significant investments throughout the entire AI chain, from computing to models, and will enable an open community to drive the full potential of AI technologies. Together, we can ensure the ethical use of AI to help drive sustainable growth in Spain and in all Spanish-speaking countries around the world.”

The Minister for Digital Transformation, José Luis Escrivá, said “AI puts us on the threshold of a new industrial revolution, with a very significant potential impact in terms of productivity gains for a large number of economic sectors, and of improving public services for our citizens”.

^{Photo: IBM}