\n<\/p>\n
India has waded into global AI debate by issuing an advisory that requires tech firms to get government permission before launching new models.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Ministry of Electronics and IT issued the advisory to firms on Friday. The advisory, not published on public domain but a copy of which TechCrunch has reviewed, also asks tech firms to ensure that their services or products \u201cdo not permit any bias or discrimination or threaten the integrity of the electoral process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the ministry admits the advisory is not legally binding, India\u2019s IT Deputy Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar says the notice is \u201csignalling that this is the future of regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds: \u201cWe are doing it as an advisory today asking you to comply with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ministry cites power granted to it through the IT Act, 2000 and IT Rules, 2021 in its advisory. It seeks compliance with \u201cimmediate effect\u201d and asks tech firms to submit \u201cAction Taken-cum-Status Report\u201d to the ministry within 15 days.<\/p>\n
The new advisory, which also asks tech firms to \u201cappropriately\u201d label the \u201cpossible and inherent fallibility or unreliability\u201d of the output their AI models generate, marks a reversal from India\u2019s previous hands-off approach to AI regulation<\/a>. Less than a year ago, the ministry had declined to regulate AI growth, instead identifying the sector as vital to India\u2019s strategic interests.<\/p>\n India\u2019s move has taken many industry executives by surprise. Many Indian startups and VCs say they have been spooked by the new advisory and believe such regulation will hinder the nation\u2019s ability to compete in the global race, where it is already lagging behind<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI was such a fool thinking I will work bringing GenAI to Indian agriculture from SF,\u201d wrote<\/a> Pratik Desai, founder of startup Kisan AI. \u201cWe were training multimodal low cost pest and disease model, and so excited about it. This is terrible and demotivating after working 4yrs full time brining AI to this domain in India.\u201d<\/p>\n Many Silicon Valley leaders also criticized India\u2019s policy shift. Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and chief executive of Perplexity AI, one of the hottest AI startups, said the new advisory from New Delhi was a \u201cbad move by India<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n