4th Spain-India Forum: Technology and Democracy – Spain-India Opportunities

The second panel of the IV Spain-India Forum analyzed Artificial Intelligence, its role in the growing spread of disinformation and electoral manipulation, and the potential collaboration between Spain and India on AI governance.

The session was structured in two parts. The first, entitled “Technology and Democracy: Spain-India Opportunities”, featured Imma Turbau, CEO and founder of the startup Container, Varun Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of Mathaphy Labs, and Guillermo López, diplomat at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, and AI expert.

A subsequent roundtable focused on “Forging Futures in AI: India-Spain Collaboration for a Thriving Global Ecosystem.” This discussion included Anulekha Nandi, Technology, Economy and Society researcher at ORF, alongside Imma Turbau and Varun Sharma. It was moderated by Sameer Patil, Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at ORF.

The role of AI in deepfake technologies, and how these are affecting disinformation and electoral interference—leading to growing concerns about the use of AI for manipulating information—was the starting point of the session.

Guillermo López, diplomat at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and AI expert, explained that he first delved into disinformation studies when, in his previous post, he detected a lack of resources for protecting information in Spanish compared to English. He noted that analyzing the impact of disinformation campaigns on issues such as climate change, vaccines, and others reflects an epistemological problem: facts are no longer regarded as facts but have been reduced to mere opinions.

Regarding collaboration between Spain and India in this area, López highlighted that both countries share democratic values and an ethical approach to AI development. Creating multilingual and generative AI systems is crucial, especially for countries like Spain and India, with multiple co-official languages. He also proposed a European alternative—a model of AI not restricted to the two dominant binary global perspectives.

In this context, Sameer Patil emphasized the importance of global AI governance, pointing out that Spain, under its Presidency of the EU Council, spearheaded the approval of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, aligning national and European priorities.

López confirmed that the EU’s stricter rules are beginning to be adopted globally by major tech companies, meaning European regulation could become a global model. He concluded that cooperation between India and Spain, based on complementary strengths and a shared vision, has the potential to lead the development of responsible and globally governed AI.

Anulekha Nandi, Technology, Economy and Society researcher at ORF, stressed that India and Spain share a common vision for the future of AI: safe, fair, and inclusive development. Both nations have national AI strategies, focusing on areas such as computing, data, training, and human development, while ensuring proper governance to guarantee innovation happens responsibly.

The strengths of Spain and India are highly complementary: Spain has notable expertise in regulation and in establishing regulatory bodies—such as the first AI regulator in the European Union—while India has the highest penetration of AI skills in the world and a vibrant startup ecosystem. Nandi emphasized the importance of identifying areas where collaboration will be most efficient, as well as fostering academia–industry partnerships and encouraging investment in AI infrastructure.

India and Spain, she said, share the goal of strengthening the innovation ecosystem and providing the right conditions for startups and tech companies to grow and collaborate.

Imma Turbau, CEO of Container, and Varun Sharma, CEO of Mathaphy Labs, analyzed the challenges of public–private collaboration in AI from the perspective of startups.

Since the private sector—especially startups—often has limited resources, the public sector must provide the necessary capital to scale up large innovative projects. Spain has a robust system to support the private sector, though challenges remain in fully aligning with its needs. They also stressed the importance of having a clear legal framework that enables responsible AI development without stifling innovation through overregulation.

On this point, Spain is currently developing regulatory sandboxes, which allow emerging technologies to be tested in a controlled environment while regulation is developed—helping policymakers understand how best to regulate technologies without hindering progress.

In conclusion, both India and Spain agree on the importance of strengthening the innovation ecosystem by providing the right conditions for startups and tech firms to grow and collaborate. This includes ensuring access to data, building support infrastructure, and training talent to face emerging AI challenges.

More Content on the 4th Spain-India Forum

• ▪️ Forum Inauguration
• ▪️ First Panel