Spain urges immediate action on global AI governance at UN laboratory launch

Spain has renewed its call for stronger international AI governance following the launch of the UN AI Governance for Humanity Lab in Valencia.

Speaking at the opening event, Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Administration Óscar López said AI must serve peace and people, and warned that governments and international institutions must act quickly if AI governance is to become more than an unfulfilled ambition.

López said science and democracy should work together to ensure AI helps reduce poverty and narrow the industrial divide between the Global North and the Global South. He described the laboratory as a further step in Spain’s commitment to multilateral, ethical, and trustworthy AI development.

The minister also pointed to Spain’s growing role in AI governance, highlighting initiatives such as the Digital Rights Charter, the Digital Rights Observatory, the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence, the EU AI Act, and Spain’s recently approved law on the good use and governance of AI.

The new laboratory, operating under the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, will act as a global coordination body focused on the impact of AI through international governance, risk assessment, multilateral cooperation, and support for the UN Global Digital Compact.

Based in Quart de Poblet, Valencia, the lab aims to build a shared understanding of how AI is governed across countries, advance interoperability among governance frameworks, and support implementation across regions and sectors. Through reports and recommendations, it will support international scientific panels and inform decisions by the UN General Assembly.

The lab will also support the Valencia Dialogues, a series of technical workshops designed to develop concrete and actionable contributions to the laboratory’s work.

Why does it matter?

The launch of the UN AI Governance for Humanity Lab gives the Global Digital Compact a more concrete institutional anchor for AI governance work. Its focus on risk assessment, interoperability, multilateral cooperation, and implementation across regions and sectors reflects a growing effort to move global AI governance from principles and declarations towards practical coordination mechanisms.

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