Timeline of AI law in India

Second deepfake advisory

MeitY issues an advisory to all intermediaries on communicating Rule 3(1)(b) prohibited content to users.

Second advisory issued

MeitY advises all intermediaries to communicate Rule 3(1)(b) prohibited content to users at registration, login and upload.

UK Supreme Court rejects DABUS

The UK Supreme Court dismisses Thaler's appeal, one of the main foreign decisions the Indian Patent Office could draw on.

Generative AI question left unanswered

A question on regulating generative AI is among those deleted after the suspension of MPs.

Act reported delayed beyond 2024

MediaNama notes that the Digital India Act, which would cover AI regulation, has been delayed until after 2024.

US Review Board affirms refusal

The Review Board affirms the refusal on the second request for reconsideration.

Rohilla PIL reported

The Hindu reports advocate Chaitanya Rohilla's PIL on unregulated AI and deepfakes in the Delhi High Court; it is first listed for 8 January 2024.

Real-time speech translation

A speech by the Prime Minister is translated in real time for a Tamil audience using BHASHINI.

Deletion application

Defendant 8 seeks deletion from the suit under Order I Rule 10 CPC, and pleadings continue before the Joint Registrar.

Vaishnaw announces platform meeting

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says safe harbour will not protect platforms that fail to act on deepfakes.

Prime Minister warns on deepfakes

Narendra Modi cites a fake video of himself and suggests disclaimers for AI-generated content.

Joint Registrar hearing

The matter is listed before the Joint Registrar for completion of pleadings and marking of exhibits.

Minister criticises Google Bard

MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar says bias by Bard would breach Rule 3(1)(b) and forfeit safe harbour.

FIR registered

Delhi Police registers a First Information Report over the Mandanna deepfake, according to press reports.

First MeitY deepfake advisory

MeitY advises significant social media intermediaries to identify deepfakes and act on reports within 36 hours.

First advisory issued

MeitY advises significant social media intermediaries to identify misinformation and deepfakes and remove reported content within 36 hours.

Deepfake of Rashmika Mandanna spreads

A morphed video circulates widely; Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar posts about platforms' legal obligations on misinformation.

UK announces first AI Safety Institute

The UK becomes the first country to announce a national AI safety institute.

Consultation on AI robustness standard

TEC invites inputs on a voluntary standard for assessing and rating the robustness of AI in telecom networks.

RBIH memorandum

BHASHINI and the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub partner to extend digital financial services in native languages.

Ex parte interim injunction

Justice Prathiba M. Singh restrains misuse of Anil Kapoor's persona, including through AI, deepfakes, face-morphing and GIFs. She also orders domain locks, takedowns of deepfake links and blocking requests to DoT and MeitY.

Suit listed and decreed; ChatGPT holding

Justice Prathiba M. Singh records the defendant's undertaking, decrees the suit and holds in paragraph 28 that ChatGPT cannot be the basis of adjudication.

Delhi High Court cautions against ChatGPT in adjudication

In Christian Louboutin SAS v. The Shoe Boutique, Justice Prathiba M. Singh holds that ChatGPT cannot be the basis of adjudication and that AI cannot replace human intelligence.

DPDP Act enacted

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 becomes law, supplying the data protection statute the paper had called for.

Discrepancy letter

The Copyright Office says the application does not identify a natural or juristic person as author; Thaler replies on 25 August 2023.

TRAI links AI accreditation to standards bodies

TRAI recommends that a future AI authority coordinate with TEC on laboratory accreditation for AI products.

TRAI recommends role for TEC in AI accreditation

TRAI's recommendations on AI and big data suggest TEC could accredit laboratories testing AI products.

Recommendations issued

TRAI sends 21 recommendations to DoT, including a risk-based AI framework and the proposed AIDAI.

TEC 57050:2023 released

TEC releases the Standard for Fairness Assessment and Rating of Artificial Intelligence Systems.

Advisory CIAD-2023-0015

CERT-In issues its first advisory on the security implications of generative AI language applications.

MediaNama summary

MediaNama publishes a summary of the guidelines' principles and stage-wise guidance.

Mumbai stakeholder meeting; AI "user harm" approach

Further consultation; Chandrasekhar says AI will be regulated under the Act through the lens of user harm.

Vision document published

The e-Committee publishes the Vision document for Phase III on its website.

SpicyIP critique

Commentators call the order cursory and urge courts to state a legal basis for personality rights.

Parliament told no AI law planned

Ashwini Vaishnaw says the government is not considering a law to regulate the growth of AI.

Guidelines released

ICMR publishes its ethical guidelines for AI in biomedical research and healthcare (date as reported by MediaNama).

Punjab and Haryana High Court quotes ChatGPT in a bail order

Justice Anoop Chitkara reproduces a ChatGPT answer in a bail order while stating that the reference is not on the merits.

Bail refused; ChatGPT passage included

The High Court dismisses the bail petition, quotes a ChatGPT answer in a "post-reasoning" section and states that the reference is not an expression on the merits. Bar & Bench reports the order the same day.

First Digital India Act consultation

MeitY holds a consultation in Bengaluru; Rajeev Chandrasekhar outlines conditional safe harbour, a light-touch regulator, an adjudicatory body and high-risk AI rules.

Bail order reserved

Justice Anoop Chitkara reserves judgment on the regular bail petition CRM-M-22496-2022.

Additional documents allowed

Justice Sanjeev Narula allows the plaintiff to file evidence that an impugned book remained on sale online.

Open House Discussion

TRAI holds an online open house on the consultation responses.

Nadella demonstration

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella calls a BHASHINI demo 'the most profound thing' he had seen in a long time.

Budget 2023-24

Three AI Centres of Excellence for agriculture, health and sustainable cities are announced.

Earlier deepfake advisory

MeitY reportedly advises LinkedIn, ShareChat and Snapchat on removing deepfake imagery.

CCI signals interest in AI markets

The CCI's chairperson said in 2023 that the regulator planned to assess any anti-competitive practices in the AI industry.

Union Cabinet approves Phase III (date within 2023 not stated)

The Cabinet approves Phase III with an outlay reported at about Rs 7,210 crore for 2023-2027.

Advisory group under the PSA

The government sets up a high-level advisory group under the Principal Scientific Adviser to examine AI issues, which creates a subcommittee on AI governance.

ISO/IEC 42001:2023 published

The international standard for AI management systems, which the NABCB scheme certifies against, is published in 2023.

Agriculture Data Exchange launched

ADeX is launched; the state later describes it as the model for TGDeX.