IBM and the Government of Spain have anounced a partnership aimed at developing foundational AI models in Spanish and co-official languages, aiming to stimulate economic growth and technological progress.
During a meeting at the Moncloa Complex, President Pedro Sánchez and IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Darío Gil, celebrated the new agreement that will allow the development of native AI models in Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Valencian. The meeting, also attended by Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, José Luis Escrivá, and the president of IBM Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Israel, Horacio Morell, focused on the challenges and opportunities in the field of artificial intelligence and supercomputing.
The Memorandum of Understanding, signed by Darío Gil and José Luis Escrivá, outlines the collaboration to promote open, ethical, and responsible generative AI in Spain. The agreement aims to create a leading suite of foundation models, including large language models (LLMs) and small language models (SLMs), proficient in Spanish and co-official languages. By leveraging IBM's open-source AI framework, communities will be able to shape and contribute to the models, increasing innovation, transparency, and safety while ensuring cost-efficiency and technological competitiveness.
Minister José Luis Escrivá emphasized the potential impact of AI on productivity gains across economic sectors and in providing better public services. "The Government of Spain is promoting a useful and ethical development of the opportunities offered by this technology. IBM, with its experience, knowledge, and resources, is an excellent partner to accompany us in our vision," he stated.
Darío Gil shared IBM's commitment to accelerating Spain's AI strategy, stating, "We will leverage IBM's deep investments across the entire AI stack, from compute to models, we will enable an open community to drive the full potential of AI technologies. Together, we will work to foster the responsible use of AI to drive sustainable growth in Spain, and all Spanish speaking countries worldwide."
The collaboration also intends to develop AI-enhanced techniques to accelerate the discovery, development, and validation of new materials, increasing the sustainability of the semiconductor value chain. With Spanish being the second most spoken language worldwide, the creation of models entirely designed in Spanish will enhance AI sustainability by reducing biases and providing competitive alternatives for the Spanish industry.
The MoU is based on five key principles: promoting the development of foundation models in Spanish and co-official languages, collaborating on a full-stack generative AI platform, promoting national and regional AI strategies through responsible use of models, fostering an ecosystem of AI creators and builders, and developing AI-enhanced techniques for the semiconductor industry.
With Spanish being the second most spoken language in the world, the development of AI models native to Spanish and co-official languages will have a significant impact, reducing biases and providing competitive alternatives for the Spanish industry.