Spain: Implemented Royal Decree for the AI Sandbox Proposal to implement testing requirements under the EU's AI Act and opened pre-registration for participation

On 3 October 2023, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformations, in collaboration with the State Secretariat for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, opened pre-registration for entities and experts interested in participating in the testing environment (sandbox) for the upcoming European regulation of Artificial Intelligence, a joint initiative between Spain and the European Commission, implementing the Royal Decree for the AI Sandbox. The testing environment aims to foster collaboration between competent authorities and companies in developing AI, defining best practices for the future implementation of the European regulation. This pilot project, led by Spain and supported by the European Commission, is expected to generate guidelines and resources to prepare companies, particularly SMEs and startups, for seamless integration. The primary focus of the first AI test environment is to outline effective methods for implementing the requirements applicable to high-risk artificial intelligence systems under the forthcoming European regulation on artificial intelligence.