Mexico Expands AI Review in Foreign Investment

Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies approved a reform to the Foreign Investment Law that adds artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data processing, digital systems and access to personal data to the areas subject to foreign investment review. The vote also confirmed a change to the National Foreign Investment Commission, which will add the Ministries of Defense, Navy, Security and Citizen Protection, along with the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, with voice and vote.

What changes in the investment review?

The reform expands the scope of the special procedure for foreign capital transactions and links it to strategic assets, data processing and storage, and critical technologies. According to coverage cited by Revista IMEF and El Expres, the framework applies when foreign ownership exceeds 49% in Mexican companies and certain asset thresholds are exceeded, thresholds that the commission must define through a general resolution.

The version approved by the Senate had already set a 45 business day deadline for ruling on applications. It also established that administrative silence would not count as approval, according to specialized coverage consulted by Revista IMEF. With the Chamber of Deputies’ approval, the initiative moves forward in Congress, although it still needs to be sent onward, promulgated and officially published.

What agencies join the commission?

The National Foreign Investment Commission is adding four new voting voices, according to Forbes Mexico. These are the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of the Navy, the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, and the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency.

That institutional redesign tracks the bill’s shift toward sectors tied to strategic infrastructure and critical technologies. Coverage from La Jornada and Forbes Mexico agrees that Congress took another step toward tightening review, but the final validity of the change still depends on the remaining legislative and official stages.

How does this connect with the personal data agenda?

In parallel, Mexico’s Senate approved reforms to Articles 8, 12 and 16 of the Federal Law on Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties, and sent the measure to the Chamber of Deputies. The official position of the National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents identifies the reform as a measure aimed at protecting the personal data of children and adolescents in digital environments.

That legislative movement broadens the connection between security, data and digital regulation on two different fronts. One is foreign investment in sensitive sectors. The other is the rules governing the processing of minors’ data online.

What is happening in Sonora?

The draft Digital Transformation Law for the state of Sonora includes a cybersecurity agenda, a safe use of artificial intelligence agenda and digital labs, according to coverage of the state legislative forum published by Diario del Yaqui. The process adds a third local front to the debate over digital government.

The state reference does not change the federal process, but it does show that the debate over digitalization, security and AI use is also advancing at the subnational level. In this case, the available material only confirms the general content of the initiative and the context of the legislative forum.