MeitY revises AI advisory after push back from industry

Facing backlash from the tech industry, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has revised its advisory asking companies to take government permission before launching “under-tested” or “unreliable” AI platforms in the country.

• Also read: Govt removes permit requirement for untested AI models; calls for labelling content

The revised advisory has dropped this requirement but has asked tech players to label AI-generated deep fake content. Tech platforms have to ensure that their respective AI platforms do not exhibit bias and refrain from interfering with electoral processes. The revised norms are applicable immediately.

The Ministry had set a deadline of March 15 to comply with the earlier advisory. But tech firms skipped submitting status reports as they were still seeking further clarifications from the government on the exact specifics of the AI directives issued by the Centre. 

The advisory appeared shortly after Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar took issue with the response of Google’s Gemini chatbot to the query, “Is [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi a fascist?” Screenshots of Gemini’s response had gone viral on social media. 

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