Govt may look at a separate legal framework for AI: Secretary

NEW DELHI: Govt may examine a dedicated legal framework for artificial intelligence, signalling a significant shift from its long-standing position of relying on existing laws to govern the fast-evolving technology.At a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event on Thursday, ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) secretary S Krishnan said govt believes the time may have come to draft legislation specifically for AI. “We will look at AI regulation when the time is right. It appears the time is getting right and we will start,” Krishnan said. “Probably the time has come now to look at a separate legislation for AI. At the ministry level, what we can do is prepare a draft regulation for AI,” he added.The remarks mark the clearest indication yet that the Centre is rethinking its light-touch approach. So far, govt has maintained that existing laws, including the Information Technology Act, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and intermediary rules, are sufficient to address AI-related issues such as deepfakes, misinformation and online harms. Officials have consistently argued that premature regulation could hamper innovation as India builds domestic capabilities through the IndiaAI Mission.Globally, govts are taking different approaches. The European Union has adopted the AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive AI legislation based on risk categories. The UK has opted for a principles-based framework enforced through existing regulators, while the US continues to rely largely on executive actions, voluntary commitments from AI companies and sector-specific oversight. China has introduced targeted rules covering generative AI, recommendation algorithms and deep synthesis technologies.Separately, Krishnan said India is in discussions with the US govt and Anthropic to secure access to the company’s most advanced AI models as it seeks inclusion in a trusted group of countries permitted to use frontier AI systems.