Chapultepec 2026: The Ethical Capital Mexico Is Starting to Build in the Age of AI

Amid the global contest over the rules that will govern artificial intelligence, Mexico has just taken a step worth reading carefully. The Chapultepec Principles on artificial intelligence are a decalogue of ethics and best practices for AI development and use in Mexico, driven by the Ministry of Science (Secihti) and the Digital Transformation Agency (ATDT). They are the first piece of a strategy that recognizes something few powers have grasped in time: in the age of AI, normative capacity is also a form of sovereignty.

The world is engaged in an open dispute over the framework that will order the development of this technology. The United States is pushing a market-centered, accelerated-innovation model. The European Union is consolidating its AI Act around rights protection. China is advancing a scheme of strong state stewardship with an emphasis on social stability. Among these three poles, the space for a fourth path (Latin American, ethical, pluralist) remains open. The New Delhi Summit in February, where 89 countries signed a declaration centered on democratization and development, confirmed that international appetite exists for proposals that do not mechanically replicate the dominant models.

Mexico arrives at this conversation with real assets. The leadership of José Merino at the head of the ATDT has allowed the articulation of a digital-government agenda with genuine public relevance and long-term vision. President Sheinbaum's decision to assign Secihti as co-author of the Chapultepec Principles reveals a conviction: artificial intelligence must be conceived through science, ethics, and public governance, articulated within a single institutional architecture. The decalogue's most debated principle, that a decision which cannot be explained should not be automated, functions as the operational foundation of a defensible regulatory regime convergent with the most demanding European standards.

The name, moreover, is no accident. The 1994 Chapultepec Declaration made Mexico a hemispheric reference point on freedom of expression. The 2026 Chapultepec Principles seek to repeat that move on terrain where global rules are still being written. That normative authorship has material translation: when a country codifies principles that are later adopted in multilateral forums, it gains position, credibility, and room to maneuver in its commercial and technological negotiations.

The task now is to consolidate. Converting the Principles into a formal proposal before the OAS and UNESCO. Articulating with Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica a Latin American bloc with a common position on AI governance. Linking the Mexican ethical framework to the EU-Mexico Modernized Global Agreement as convergent regulatory language, providing certainty for investment and coherence for international cooperation. Each of these steps transforms a domestic declaration into diplomatic architecture with strategic value.

The opportunity is precise. Mexico can add normative sovereignty to its geopolitical profile in the terrain where the rules of the 21st century will be decided. On that map, science, technology, and foreign policy can together chart a route connecting innovation, dignity, and shared prosperity. Chapultepec, once again, as a point of departure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Chapultepec Principles on artificial intelligence?

They are a decalogue of ethics and best practices for AI development and use in Mexico, jointly authored by Secihti (Ministry of Science) and the ATDT (Digital Transformation Agency) under President Sheinbaum's administration.

Why does invoking the Chapultepec name matter strategically?

The 1994 Chapultepec Declaration established Mexico as a hemispheric reference point on freedom of expression. The 2026 Principles deliberately invoke that precedent, signaling Mexico's ambition to shape global AI norms at the multilateral level rather than merely comply with rules written elsewhere.

How do Mexico's AI principles relate to international frameworks?

The core principle that an unexplainable decision should not be automated converges with demanding European standards, positioning the framework as a bridge toward the EU-Mexico Modernized Global Agreement and as a credible proposal for the OAS and UNESCO.

What is the 'fourth path' argument in the article?

Between the US market-driven model, the EU rights-based AI Act, and China's state-stewardship approach, there is space for a Latin American, pluralist alternative that pairs ethical governance with science policy and public-interest values. The New Delhi Summit's 89-country declaration showed appetite for exactly this kind of proposal.