Centre Mulls Separate AI Regulation

New Delhi: With rapid use of artificial intelligence (AI) in almost all sectors in India, the Centre is likely to come up with new laws to regulate AI soon. The government, however, plans to begin the work on a dedicated legal framework for artificial intelligence as the technology continues to evolve, a top government official said on Friday.

Signalling a significant shift from existing IT rules to comprehensively address the evolving challenges posed by online frauds, deepfakes and AI-generated synthetic content, IT secretary S Krishnan on Friday said that the time has come to look at a separate AI regulation. “India's IT ministry is now exploring a dedicated regulatory framework for artificial intelligence,” Krishnan said at the CII event on cyber security here.

The move of the government comes at a time when policymakers, across the globe, are grappling with challenges posed by generative AI, including deepfakes, misinformation, and online frauds. India has been tightening IT rules to firmly crack down on AI deepfakes and others alike.

When asked about the timelines for bringing out a new AI regulation, the IT secretary said: “As a ministry, at an official level, what we can do is prepare draft legislation...when it finally comes out, is not something which I can comment on, especially when it is a legislation.”

“It is a conversation which has commenced, and my minister (Vaishnaw) and I have both been on record earlier that we will look at AI regulation when the time is right, and it appears that the time is getting right, and we will start looking at it. We have used the IT rules, and other provisions of existing law to address various concerns that AI raises, but now probably the time has come to look at a separate legislation,” Krishnan said.

In February this year, the government brought in stricter obligations for online platforms on handling AI-generated and synthetic content, including deepfakes, saying platforms, such as X and Instagram, must take down within three hours any such content flagged by a competent authority or court.

Last month, Vaishnaw had said that the current information technology law was framed much before the rapid emergence of AI, and that a new legal framework may be required to deal with the changing landscape. “Discussions are on with the industry and that the government will seek to strike a balance between innovation and regulation,” Vaishnaw had said.

On data breach at Tata Electronics, the IT secretary also said that the government is investigating the alleged data breach that reportedly exposed sensitive information related to Apple's unreleased iPhone model, with the incident having been reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). “We are investigating it. It has been reported to CERT-In,” he told reporters.

Krishnan's comment comes in the wake of a report that details of components and suppliers, along with Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro model photos were put on the dark web by a ransomware group that allegedly stole data from Tata Electronics.