Advisory on regulation of AI Platforms needs to be understood: IT Ministry

Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday to highlight the recent advisory issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) regarding the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms in India.

In its advisory and regulation, MeitY stipulated that platforms must explicitly seek permission from the government to operate in India and provide disclaimers and disclosures indicating that their platforms are under testing. On Monday, the Union minister clarified several key points in the latest regulations, especially regarding who the regulations would impact.

Key points highlighted by Chandrasekhar in the advisory:

The advisory primarily targets large platforms and does not apply to startups. These platforms must seek permission from MeitY to utilise AI in their software. The advisory aims to regulate untested AI platforms from deploying on the Indian internet.

The process of seeking permission, labelling, and consent-based disclosure to users about untested platforms serves as an insurance policy for platforms, mitigating potential consumer lawsuits.
Ensuring the safety and trust of India’s internet is a shared and common goal for the government, users, and platforms.

MeitY’s advisory on the regulation of AI platforms
MeitY’s advisory, issued on March 1, mandates that all platforms ensure their computer resources do not permit bias, discrimination, or threats to the integrity of the electoral process through the use of AI, generative AI, large-language models (LLMs), or similar algorithms.

The advisory targets explicitly all AI models, LLMs, software utilising generative AI, or any algorithms currently being tested, in the beta stage of development, or deemed unreliable in any form. These platforms must seek explicit permission from the government before being deployed for users on the Indian internet.

Although the advisory is not legally binding, Minister Chandrasekhar emphasised that it signals the future direction of regulation. He stated that compliance with the advisory is currently voluntary but suggested that non-compliance may lead to future legislation making it compulsory.

Chandrasekhar warned that failure to comply with the advisory could result in forthcoming laws and legislation that would make it challenging for platforms to evade regulation.