New Delhi: In the face of sharp criticism for trying to curb AI tools in India, the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, had to scramble a message yesterday [March 4] itself to ‘clarify’ that the advisory is only for large platforms – i.e. they are the ones who will need the government’s permission – and will not apply to startups.

He also wrote:

“[The] Advisory is aimed at untested AI platforms from deploying on Indian Internet."

“Process of seeking permission, labelling and consent based disclosure to user about untested platforms is insurance policy to platforms who can otherwise be sued by consumers."

“Safety and Trust of India’s Internet is a shared and common goal for [the] government, users and platforms."

However, questions remain about which rule or law this advisory has suddenly been issued?

The Minister for Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, too, rushed to list out exceptions for the advisory in a press conference. He said that it “will not apply to any platforms working in the healthcare or agriculture sector. It will apply to social media platforms,” reported moneycontrol.com.

The minister also clarified that the government's missive was not a "regulatory framework" but an advisory to "test your model before launching".

In the advisory issued to intermediaries on March 1, the IT ministry had stated that "explicit permission" from the government was necessary to deploy AI models in testing stage. The advisory also ordered platforms “to label synthetic content with unique identifiers that can be used to identify the creator of misinformation or deepfake.”

As reported by The Wire, a question, “Is Modi a Fascist?” answered with certainty by Google Gemini first caused a storm and suggested a complete change of mood about the Modi government’s approach to AI.

Google start-up hiccups

Indian start-ups have been complaining publicly over Goggle knocking them off the Playstore, for not paying a mandated share (11-30%) for in-app payments received by them. Start-ups maintain that their revenue stream has collapsed after not being available for download on the Google platform. Hindustan Times reported that they have approached the regulator, the Centre-run Competition Commission of India again, to get all apps back on.

The Government of India has held talks with Google regarding the start-ups being removed. Vaishnaw said, as per Hindustan Times, “We have told [Google] that it must support India’s start-up ecosystem. They have already started re-listing the apps,” Vaishnaw told the newspaper. “Google has agreed to cooperate. ... I had a conversation with Google last night [Friday] when I first learnt of this. I have spoken to them 4-5 times today,” he said.

Google first delisted apps by 10 Indian developers for not complying with its payments policy, about sharing 11-30% service fee with them for all in-app purchases of digital goods and services. Companies affected included Info Edge’s five apps – Naukri.com, Naukri Recruiter, Naukrigulf, 99acres and Shiksha. By Saturday afternoon, three of these apps – Naukri.com, Naukrigulf and 99acres – had been relisted. Shaadi.com is the only other app to be relisted.

Business Today reported that Google has imposed a fee of 11% to 26% on in-app payments, after India’s antitrust authorities ordered it to reduce rates of 15% to 30%. But reports say, “two decisions” by the Supreme Court in January and February have allowed Google to charge start-ups.

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