Spain has become the first EU Member State to approve the creation of AESIA in anticipation of the future Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). AESIA is scheduled to commence its supervisory activity no later than December 3, 2023.

The proposal for the AI Act was published by the European Commission on March 21, 2021, and it is currently in the negotiation process. In accordance with Article 59 of the proposal, each Member State will be required to establish or designate a national authority with the authority to ensure the proper application and enforcement of the future Regulation. According to the definition provided in the text, a 'national supervisory authority' refers to 'the authority to which a Member State assigns the responsibility for the implementation and application of [the future AI] Regulation, for coordinating the activities entrusted to that Member State, for acting as the single contact point for the Commission, and for representing the Member State at the European Artificial Intelligence Board.'

In this context, Spain allocated funds for the AESIA in the 2022 National Budget, anticipating the approval of the AI Regulation. Meanwhile, the seventh additional provision of the Spanish Start-ups Act (Law 28/2022 of 21 December on action to foster the emerging enterprises ecosystem) endorsed the establishment of AESIA. Finally, the Statute of the Spanish Artificial Intelligence Supervisory Agency (AESIA Statute) was approved by Royal Decree 729/2023 on August 22, 2023. Its operational commencement will coincide with the formation of the Governing Board and the appointment of the Director.

AESIA is affiliated with the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation through the Office of the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. The Agency will be located in the city of La Coruña. In this capacity, AESIA has assumed the role of the Spanish national authority tasked with overseeing and ensuring appropriate implementation of all European and domestic legislation governing the development and use of AI systems and, specifically, of algorithms.

AESIA's purpose is, therefore, to prepare the Spanish administration to fulfill the obligations and responsibilities established by the future AI Regulation. Additionally, it aims to guide the Spanish AI ecosystem until European legislation is established, encouraging voluntary supervision through quality seals. Moreover, AESIA will create AI regulatory sandboxes, offering AI innovators and systems developers a safe space in which to work.^[1]

Spain's new AESIA is an autonomous public body with its own legal personality and financial resources. Its key functions include inspection, verification, and the imposition of sanctions in matters related to the secure, responsible use of AI systems. However, AESIA's duties will not impinge upon the remit of other government agencies responsible for health and labor relations matters.

AESIA's actions will be governed by the purposes outlined in Article 4 of the AESIA Statute, which include:

• raising awareness, disseminating information, providing training, and promoting the responsible, sustainable, and accountable development and use of AI;
• defining advisory and alert mechanisms for society as a whole and the entities involved in the development and use of AI;
• cooperating and coordinating with other national and supranational AI supervisory authorities;
• establishing regulatory sandboxes to reinforce the protection of users and prevent discriminatory bias; and
• overseeing the start-up, use, and marketing of systems utilizing AI, especially where they may pose significant risks to health, safety, and fundamental rights.

In accordance with Article 8 of the AESIA Statute, the Agency will be governed by the general interest and obligated to adhere to certain fundamental principles in all its activities, including, among others, autonomy of action, technical independence, transparency and good governance, accountability, effectiveness, efficient use of resources and continuous assessment of the quality of its management processes and procedures, institutional cooperation, and equal treatment of men and women. These basic principles also include institutional cooperation, which involves the search for synergies in cooperation with other official Spanish and international entities, agents, and institutions, whether public or private, to promote the spread of knowledge in all areas.

Notwithstanding any other functions that may be entrusted to AESIA under future EU and Spanish legislation, its competencies can be summarized as follows: