NEW DELHI — Senior technology executives and policy experts have urged the Indian government to develop a distinct Artificial Intelligence (AI) safety framework tailored to the nation’s specific socio-economic context, rather than replicating the regulatory structures currently being formulated in the United States. The recommendations emerged from recent industry consultations, where stakeholders emphasized that a one-size-fits-all approach derived from Western models would fail to address the unique challenges posed by India’s linguistic diversity and vast digital population.
Rejection of US-centric models
The debate centers on the recent global push for AI governance, particularly the frameworks being discussed in Washington. While the United States has moved toward voluntary industry commitments and executive orders focused on frontier model safety, Indian industry leaders argue that these mechanisms do not account for the decentralized nature of India’s tech ecosystem. Unlike the US, where a handful of hyperscale corporations dominate model development, India’s AI landscape is characterized by a mix of large enterprises, agile startups, and government-led initiatives. Experts noted that a regulatory copy-paste from the US would impose compliance burdens that are disproportionate for smaller Indian innovators while failing to protect the broader public interest.
According to reports from LiveMint and The Economic Times, the core argument for an indigenous framework rests on the principle of digital sovereignty. Industry representatives stated that AI safety in India must address risks specific to the local context, such as the potential for AI-generated content to manipulate public opinion in multilingual environments or to exacerbate existing social biases. A framework designed primarily for English-centric data sets and Western legal standards is ill-equipped to handle the nuances of 22 scheduled languages and the diverse cultural norms across the country.
Focus on linguistic diversity and data sovereignty
A critical component of the proposed Indian framework is the integration of linguistic safety protocols. Experts highlighted that current global safety benchmarks often lack robust testing for Indic languages. Without specific safeguards, AI models deployed in India could generate harmful or misleading content in regional languages, a risk that is less prominent in US-centric discussions. The industry has called for the establishment of a national AI safety testing regime that includes rigorous evaluation of models for bias, toxicity, and factual accuracy across multiple Indian languages.
Furthermore, the discussion has extended to data sovereignty and infrastructure. India’s AI strategy relies heavily on the development of domestic compute infrastructure and the creation of high-quality, representative datasets. Industry experts argued that the safety framework must be aligned with these infrastructure goals, ensuring that safety standards do not inadvertently hinder the development of local AI capabilities. They suggested that the framework should encourage the creation of open-source safety tools and datasets that are representative of the Indian demographic, thereby fostering a robust and secure domestic AI ecosystem.
नीति प्रभाव और अगले कदम
एक विशिष्ट भारतीय एआई सुरक्षा ढाँचे की मांग सरकार की एआई में भारत को वैश्विक नेता के रूप में स्थापित करने की व्यापक दृष्टि के अनुरूप है। इलेक्ट्रॉनिक्स एवं सूचना प्रौद्योगिकी मंत्रालय (MeitY) ने राष्ट्रीय एआई शासन नीति को आकार देने हेतु उद्योग के हितधारकों के साथ चर्चा की है। यद्यपि अभी तक कोई अंतिम नियामक दस्तावेज जारी नहीं हुआ है, विशेषज्ञों के बीच यह सर्वसम्मति है कि भारत को केवल प्रतिक्रियात्मक अनुपालन से आगे बढ़ते हुए, नवाचार और सार्वजनिक सुरक्षा के बीच संतुलन स्थापित करने वाला ढाँचा सक्रिय रूप से तैयार करना चाहिए।
उद्योग के नेताओं ने सुरक्षा मानकों के विकास में सरकार के निकायों, शैक्षणिक संस्थानों और निजी क्षेत्र के खिलाड़ियों को सम्मिलित करते हुए बहु‑हितधारक दृष्टिकोण का प्रस्ताव रखा है। यह सहयोगी मॉडल भारतीय जनता में एआई प्रौद्योगिकियों के प्रति विश्वास स्थापित करने के लिए आवश्यक माना जाता है। विशेषज्ञों ने रेखांकित किया कि पारदर्शी और समावेशी प्रक्रिया न केवल ढाँचे की विश्वसनीयता को बढ़ाएगी, बल्कि एआई प्रौद्योगिकियों के तीव्र विकास के अनुकूल इसे लचीला भी बनाएगी।
स्वदेशी ढाँचे की वकालत का अंतरराष्ट्रीय सहयोग पर भी प्रभाव पड़ता है। जबकि भारत वैश्विक एआई शासन निकायों के साथ संवाद करने के लिए प्रतिबद्ध है, विशेषज्ञों का तर्क है कि देश को अपनी निय