Club de Madrid and RegulatingAI convene AI governance roundtable at UNGA81

Club de Madrid and RegulatingAI brought diplomats, technologists, journalists and civil society leaders together in New York on Sept. 24 to debate who builds, scrutinizes and governs AI in the global public interest. The discussion comes as the UN advances new AI governance mechanisms ahead of a second Global Dialogue in New York in 2027.

Why it matters: - The roundtable tackled one of the core questions in AI policy: how to make governance more inclusive, accountable and effective across borders. - The discussion linked AI capability, oversight and authority, arguing those issues need to be addressed together rather than as separate policy debates. - The event took place during UNGA81, as the international system is still shaping the rules and institutions that will guide AI governance.

What happened: - Club de Madrid and RegulatingAI co-hosted the invitation-only roundtable, “Who Builds, Who Oversees, Who Governs? Artificial Intelligence in the Global Public Interest,” on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at the University Club in New York. - The event brought together leaders from diplomacy, technology, global health, journalism and civil society. - H.E. Laura Chinchilla, President of Club de Madrid and former president of Costa Rica, opened the event. - Sanjay Puri, founder and president of RegulatingAI, delivered the framing remarks and outlined the discussion around three dimensions and four democratic institutions: parliaments, courts, a free press and citizens. - Sanjay Puri and María Elena Agüero, secretary general of Club de Madrid, co-moderated the dialogue.

The details: - Round I, “Who builds?”, focused on how the digital divide is becoming an AI capability divide across compute, data, models, skills and energy. - Alex Jacob, director of technology at Microsoft, delivered the lead briefing in that session. - Dr. Lucica Ditiu, executive director of Stop TB Partnership, served as first respondent. - Round II, “Who scrutinizes?”, examined the shift from voluntary commitments to meaningful accountability and independent oversight. - Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of Humane Intelligence, led the second round. - Gerard Ryle, executive director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and Nuala O’Connor, former senior vice president and chief counsel for digital citizenship at Walmart, responded in that session. - Round III, “Who governs?”, addressed the path toward a coherent global governance architecture. - Ambassador Dorothy Shea, former U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, delivered the lead briefing in the third round. - H.E. Laura Chinchilla served as first respondent. - Renee Fishel, director of responsible AI at Novartis; Alaa Moussawi, chief data scientist for the New York City Council; and Ladan Fakory, national security lead at Lenovo, joined the conversation alongside invited guests. - In the final round, moderated by María Elena Agüero, participants named one concrete priority the international community could advance over the next two years. - The event was held under the Chatham House Rule. - The discussion comes after UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/79/325 established the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. - The panel published its preliminary report on July 1, 2026. - The first Global Dialogue took place in Geneva in July 2026. - The second Global Dialogue is scheduled for New York in May 2027.

Between the lines: - The event signals growing pressure to move AI governance from high-level principles to institutions with clear responsibility and public legitimacy. - The emphasis on parliaments, courts, a free press and citizens shows a democratic framing of AI oversight, not just a technical one. - The mix of public-sector, private-sector and civil society participants suggests AI governance is increasingly being treated as a multi-stakeholder problem rather than a purely government-led effort.

What's next: - Club de Madrid and RegulatingAI said they will distill the priorities named in the final round into forward-looking propositions. - Those proposals are intended to inform multilateral and multi-stakeholder processes, including the second Global Dialogue on AI Governance in New York in May 2027. - The roundtable outcomes could feed into broader UN-aligned discussions on how AI should be governed globally.

The bottom line: - The New York roundtable pushed AI governance toward a more concrete agenda: who gets to build AI, who gets to watch it and who gets to rule it.