San Francisco Frontiers - Spanish PM says unregulated AI could be 'devastating'

The debate over the risks from artificial intelligence has intensified this month, with many of the industry's leading lights voicing support for more cooperation, regulation and slower development of the technology.

Former employees of major AI companies have resigned warning of the technology's risks, even pointing to an existential threat to humanity.

"If artificial intelligence is concentrated among a few companies and a handful of countries, its impact on shared prosperity, and therefore on the idea of democracy, will be very negative, if not devastating," Sanchez told an AI-focused event in Madrid.

"We must act urgently, because unregulated, opaque artificial intelligence running wild... and in very few hands is the perfect recipe for disaster," added the Socialist leader.

US President Donald Trump -- with whom Sanchez has repeatedly clashed -- has dismissed fears that AI could wipe out humanity and rejected calls to put greater controls around the fast-moving technology.

Sanchez, an outspoken critic of the power of big tech companies and their bosses, on Monday renewed his criticism of "techno-oligarchs" and urged international coordination on AI.

"Self-regulation does not work", said Sanchez, calling for an AI "focused on well-being and collective prosperity that enables the building of fairer societies".

He presented a 12-month plan aiming for "a new social contract for artificial intelligence" in Spain in cooperation with civil society.

This agreement would have to offer "security to people in the face of the changes in work and in life that this technology will entail", he said.

In February, Sanchez announced a plan to ban social media for under-16s, sparking a spat with X owner Elon Musk and Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

His government has also asked the Spanish prosecutors to investigate X, Meta and TikTok for possible offences related to AI-generated child pornography.

F.Edwards--SFF