India tells Big Tech: Apply for approval before releasing “unreliable” artificial intelligence models in the country

03/12/2024 / By Arsenio Toledo

The government of India is now demanding that Big Tech companies seek its approval before publicly releasing any artificial intelligence (AI) tools, especially ones that are considered “unreliable” or are still under trial.

The Indian government noted that these trial AI tools should be labeled as such for the potential to provide users with wrong answers to their queries. The use of such tools, including generative AI, and their “availability to the users on Indian internet must be done so with explicit permission of the Government of India,” announced the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in an advisory to tech giants on Friday, March 1. (Related: Bill Gates’ Microsoft aims to equip two million people in India with AI skills by 2025.)

This advisory comes a week after Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar lambasted Google’s Gemini AI tool after it generated a response that accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of implementing “fascist” policies. A Google spokesperson clarified that its tools “may not always be reliable,” especially when discussing current events and political topics.

“Safety and trust is [a tech platform’s] legal obligation. ‘Sorry, unreliable’ does not exempt from (the) law,” said Chandrasekhar in response to Google.

The IT Ministry’s advisory further demanded that Big Tech companies ensure that their AI tools “do not threaten the integrity of the electoral process.” This comes as India prepares for general elections this summer and concerns are being raised in India and all over the world regarding the possible use of AI to spread disinformation.

“We know that misinformation and deepfakes will be used in the run-up to the election to try and impact or shape the outcome of the elections,” said Chandrasekhar.

New regulation only applies to Big Tech, not to Indian startups

The advisory faced backlash in India’s burgeoning tech industry, especially with entrepreneurs and startups working on generative AI within the country.

Following this backlash, Chandrasekhar clarified that generative AI companies do not need to seek permission from the government to work on AI. He noted that this requirement only applies to Big Tech companies, especially those from outside of India.

“[The] advisory is aimed at the significant platforms and permission seeking from [IT Ministry] is only for large platforms and will not apply to startups … it is aimed at untested AI platforms from deploying on Indian internet,” said Chandrasekhar. He added that the process of seeking permission, labeling of platforms that are under testing and the provision of consent-based disclosure systems for users is an “insurance policy to platforms who can otherwise be sued by consumers.”

This clarification has not stopped tech companies based mostly in the United States from being angered by the sudden appearance of regulations that hinder their free access to the Indian market.

Aravind Srinivas, co-founder of the San Francisco-based generative AI-based search engine Perplexity AI, called the advisory a “bad move by India.” Martin Casado, general partner for Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, described the move as a “travesty” that will hurt innovation.

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