India embraces AI companies, regulation takes a back seat

This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.

This report is adapted from Rest of World’s recent feature “The global struggle over how to regulate AI,” written by Katie McQue, Laís Martins, Ananya Bhattacharya, and Carien du Plessis.

Artificial intelligence’s true believers say it will revolutionise industries, supercharge scientific research, and make many aspects of life more efficient. Globally, some politicians and tech experts are uneasy about the possibility that such powerful technology could be misused. Legislators, tech experts and activists have proposed stricter rules around things like copyright, data protection, deepfakes, the creation of autonomous weapons, and cyberattacks.

The most ambitious AI law passed to date is the EU’s 2024 AI Act. Canada is attempting to take a similar approach to the EU, and in the US, some states have taken the lead, with California’s governor recently signing 17 AI bills into law. And while countries like Chile and South Korea are proposing and passing landmark bills to regulate AI, in other non-Western nations, the priority isn’t regulation but rather courting large AI companies to make massive investments. In India, according to industry sources, AI companies are currently being welcomed with open arms.

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