The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, reiterated this Thursday his intention for the royal decree on data centers to be approved "soon" and "before the general elections" on November 29, so that Spain sends "a message to the world" in defense of sustainability, sovereignty, and European leadership in this area.
López emphasized that the Executive's schedule is "compatible" with the electoral advance, that the text will take into account the "many" allegations received, and that the country must position itself "on the right side of history" and arrive "on time."
As he explained, "the Government's will is to push forward that decree" after the public information period, in which "many allegations have been registered that must be taken into account" and while internal negotiations between ministries continue to "establish a common position," once those contributions have been "addressed."
After participating in the closing event of the "IV International Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence," held at the headquarters of his Ministry, the head of Digital Transformation stressed: "I think it is very important for Spain to send a signal to the world to defend sustainability, to defend sovereignty. It would not be the first time that Spain has chosen before Europe."
In his opinion, "it is about being on the right side of history" and "it is much more important to regulate on time" to avoid "a problem," as has happened in other countries. "The Government's will remains intact, we are working on that decree and I hope we can approve it soon," he insisted.
López added that "we are going to try to approve that royal decree before the elections, but I think it is a very important step. And besides, I insist, once again Spain will be sending a message to the world that something can be done with common sense, regulated, that benefits us all. I think the debate on energy, data centers, and sovereignty is very important."
In the face of criticism, he defended that "in reality we are all much closer to a consensus than it seems, beyond four or five interested voices."
Regarding artificial intelligence, the minister has pointed out that it is the "most powerful" technology known so far, with "wonderful" uses in areas such as medicine, research, or public services, but also with "very large risks, proportional to the power of the technology."
In light of this scenario, he has stated that "the response of this group and the response of this Government is that we must govern, we must regulate, we must do something that allows us to take advantage of those possibilities, but also regulate and eliminate the risks or minimize them," and has described as "deceptive" "the voices that say that regulation is incompatible with innovation, because it is not true."
The draft royal decree promoted by the Executive sets requirements for energy sustainability, environmental sustainability, resilience, and digital sovereignty for data centers and includes, among other measures, that these infrastructures support with new renewable generation at least 80% of their electricity consumption in each hour of operation.
Objective to approve the royal decree before 29N
The Government aims to elevate the norm to the Council of Ministers in the coming dates through urgent processing, with the goal of it being published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) before the electoral call on November 29.
By opting for this route and dispensing with the parliamentary procedure, the approval of the royal decree only needs the favorable report from the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) and the Council of State.
In this context, the CNMC's opinion would have already been supported by the body chaired by Juan José Ganuza after its passage through the plenary last week, according to what "El País" has reported.
Once this report is incorporated into the file, the Executive will send the text to the Council of State for its legal evaluation. The content is still under review after a public consultation that received more than 600 contributions, so it could still undergo changes before its final approval.
Manifesto on artificial intelligence
On the other hand, Óscar López has thanked the "selfless collaboration" with the Executive of a group of experts, whom he has defined as "the best thinkers in AI," who this Thursday delivered a manifesto on artificial intelligence "that precisely addresses all the points that are currently under discussion."
"These ideas will be laws, will be norms, will be rights that this Government guarantees," affirmed the minister, who defended a "humanist AI" and claimed the role of Pedro Sánchez's Government to become "a reference and a pioneer in everything related to the regulation of artificial intelligence," including the pursuit of its sustainability and sovereignty and the protection of minors.
The president of the Advisory Council, Manuel Castells, has highlighted the independence and freedom with which the specialists —among them, himself— have worked and explained that the objective is "to develop a strategic vision of AI, going beyond utopias and dystopias" and to set principles for the co-evolution between this technology and people, "to whose service AI must be."
In relation to the debate on whether AI could end humans or act on its own, Castells has stated "categorically" that "there is no scientifically validated empirical evidence that artificial intelligence by itself, with its own will, has made any serious decision."
In his opinion, what may have occurred in certain episodes is that, in the instructions given to the systems, they are asked to use "all resources" to solve a problem and "no limits are set."