The emergence of Mythos, Anthropic's AI model, caused a global earthquake that activated alarms in the financial sector in Europe and in Spain. That episode, which led to the regional banks being called to action by the ECB, could be just a footnote compared to the alerts being issued in recent days by the major leaders in artificial intelligence, sparking a global panic. If the development of the new technology could end humanity, what could it not do to the entities?
For now, the crisis of confidence triggered by the messages from Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, or Elon Musk is putting the strategic plans of the main Spanish entities at risk, which have placed artificial intelligence at the core of their operating models and are in the process of implementing the technology in their structures and business models. They are all closely monitoring the clash of opinions between those advocating for slowing down the pace of advancements and those, like US President Donald Trump or Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, rejecting that idea.
One of the listed entities in Spain acknowledges that there is concern in the sector about the impact of this crisis, not so much because the banks here have direct exposure, but because of their financing to other companies in the Ibex 35 that have already requested capital to develop data center hubs in the United States. "If there were a crisis in support of AI investments in the United States, that would worry us," they admit.
Therefore, caution is the prevailing attitude among the major banks. They believe that the debate is taking place at a different level than theirs, dominated by technology companies and investors with interests in those companies, and argue that banks, like companies in other sectors, simply decide what to do or how to implement developments that are given to them. Nevertheless, reflection processes in the top management of the entities are underway, and everyone is working to anticipate responses to possible incidents following the guidelines set by the European Central Bank.
Following the appearance of Mythos, the regulator requested contingency plans and analysis of digital vulnerabilities from regional entities. In July, the regulator increased surveillance and sent a letter to European banks urging them to rethink their cybersecurity models. For this purpose, the text specified: "Where appropriate, this approach [cybersecurity] could be complemented by the use of AI-based tools, provided that their implementation is preceded by a thorough assessment of both their potential benefits and associated risks, and subject to appropriate safeguards, human oversight, and robust risk management."
Since then, Spanish banks - and European ones as well - are aligning their defense mechanisms to the new risks posed by AI. Industry sources explain that cybersecurity plans include two forms of defense: on one hand, the traditional one, which basically involves bolstering security measures, updating software patches... And on the other hand, a defense based on the controlled use of AI, with risk assessment protocols, limiting its autonomy, and under continuous human supervision. "Attacks are mainly aimed at the patches applied to the software and vulnerability management. The most targeted companies will be those that do not apply software patches as they are released," they share with EL MUNDO.
The institution chaired by Christine Lagarde demanded that banks have their action programs against artificial intelligence ready by October 31. Groups are progressing in their work to respond in time. In recent months, the major Spanish banks have made significant changes to their organizational structures to prepare for the impact of AI. BBVA has created AI Transformation, a new global area whose challenge is to industrialize the creation, deployment, and management of intelligent agents throughout the group; Banco Sabadell established the Corporate Transformation and Artificial Intelligence area to drive the deployment of the new technology in the organization; Santander has also promoted the hiring of several profiles aimed at enhancing AI in the bank; Bankinter launched IA First, a governance program for AI led by CEO Gloria Ortiz; CaixaBank opened the AI office for the entire group, and Unicaja foresees an investment of nearly 250 million euros in its strategic plan until 2027 to address the technological transformation of the bank.