Government asks AI platforms to seek approval for deploying under-trial AI; makes labelling mandatory

The Indian government has issued an advisory for social media and other platforms to label under-trial AI models.

Days after Google's AI platform's response to queries on Prime Minister Narendra Modi generated controversy, the government has issued an advisory for social media and other platforms to label under-trial AI models and prevent hosting unlawful content.

In an advisory issued to intermediaries/platforms on March 1, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology warned of criminal action in case of non-compliance.

"All intermediaries or platforms to ensure that use of Artificial Intelligence model(s) /LLM/Generative AI, software(s) or algorithm(s) on or through its computer resource does not permit its users to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any unlawful content," the advisory said.

All platforms, intermediaries and enabling software shall be held accountable for any breaches, it added.

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"Non-compliance with provisions would result in penal consequences." The response of Gemini to queries about the Prime Minister led to a strong reaction from the government, with Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar calling it a violation of IT laws.

Union Minister for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Saturday said, "The episode of Google Gemini is very embarrassing, but saying that the platform was under trial and unreliable is certainly not an excuse to escape from prosecution".