The Government’s Clearance Of AI Platforms Is Eliminated By MeitY’s Latest AI Advisory

The government removed the rule around two weeks after it was issued, requiring all Internet intermediaries and other platforms to get permission before releasing AI products.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) recommendation followed closely on the heels of a controversy sparked by Google’s AI platform’s answer to inquiries about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
MeitY had requested in the March 1 recommendation that tech companies get its consent before releasing generative AI models or tools that it considered to be “unreliable” or “under-tested.” They might “threaten the integrity of the electoral process,” the ministry warned.
However, the guidance had drawn criticism from a number of sources. In response, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT, stressed that the advice was intended for large platforms and did not apply to startups.
Additionally, the advisory was removed on March 15. MeitY instructed the platforms to ensure that AI-generated content is properly “labelled,” particularly the content that is prone to misuse, in the follow-up notice to the previous one.
Some prior rules, such the consent popup mechanism, which platforms should employ to alert users to potential biases or faulty output, are still included in the updated warning. Similar to the previous version, the Ministry has also ordered platforms to make sure that the biases resulting from their AI models or platforms do not interfere with the Indian election process.
As per the advisory document, “every intermediary and platform should guarantee that its computer resource, whether through artificial intelligence, large language models (LLMs), generative Al, software, or algorithms, does not permit any bias or discrimination or threaten the integrity of the electoral process.”
Additionally MeitY has requested that all platforms and intermediaries notify their users about the consequences of handling illegal information in their terms of service and user agreements. These consequences include the removal or disablement of access to such information, the suspension or termination of access, the user’s usage rights to their user account, and legal repercussions.