India’s Modi government rushes to regulate AI ahead of national elections

As parties deploy AI manipulation, the Indian government has asked tech firms to seek its approval before launching new tools. Critics say this could stifle innovation and free speech.

New Delhi, India — The Indian government has asked tech companies to seek its explicit nod before publicly launching “unreliable” or “under-tested” generative AI models or tools. It has also warned companies that their AI products should not generate responses that “threaten the integrity of the electoral process” as the country gears up for a national vote.

The Indian government’s efforts to regulate artificial intelligence represent a walk-back from its earlier stance of a hands-off approach when it informed Parliament in April 2023 that it was not eyeing any legislation to regulate AI.

The advisory was issued last week by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) briefly after Google’s Gemini faced a right-wing backlash for its response over a query: ‘Is Modi a fascist?’

It responded that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “accused of implementing policies some experts have characterised as fascist”, citing his government’s “crackdown on dissent and its use of violence against religious minorities”.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, junior information technology minister, responded by accusing Google’s Gemini of violating India’s laws. “‘Sorry ‘unreliable’ does not exempt from the law,” he added. Chandrashekar claimed Google had apologised for the response, saying it was a result of an “unreliable” algorithm. The company responded by saying it was addressing the problem and working to improve the system.

In the West, major tech companies have often faced accusations of a liberal bias. Those allegations of bias have