India is pursuing trust-based AI governance vision: PSA Sood
Washington, Jan 31
India is pursuing a trust-based approach to artificial intelligence governance that emphasises inclusion, innovation, and safeguards rather than rigid regulation, the country's top scientific adviser told the think-tank community.
Speaking virtually from New Delhi, Principal Scientific Adviser, Ajay Kumar Sood told a CSIS conference that AI governance has become a core element of national economic and strategic policy.
"AI is no longer confined to isolated enterprise use cases," Sood said. "It is embedded across sectors and the digital backbone of economies."
Sood cited rapid growth in global AI adoption, rising investment in generative AI, and increasing energy demands from data centers.
"These trends make clear that AI governance is no longer a niche policy area," he said. "It is a core element of economic strategy, public trust, and sustainable development," he said.
Sood said India's approach focuses on safety, accountability, transparency, and inclusion, while maintaining flexibility to support innovation.
India's AI policy is being implemented through the IndiaAI Mission launched in 2024, he said. The mission includes shared compute access, unified data platforms, indigenous model development, and workforce skilling.
Sood said India has made subsidized high-performance computing available to startups, researchers, and universities, significantly reducing costs compared to global averages.
He said the national AI data platform hosts thousands of datasets and models across multiple sectors, supporting domestic innovation.
India is also investing in AI education and global standard-setting, including participation in international AI standards bodies, he said.
Sood said India recently released a National AI Governance Report outlining a "techno-legal" approach that combines legal oversight with technical solutions.
"This enables innovation at scale while mitigating risks," he said.
Looking ahead to the AI Impact Summit, Sood said India aims to promote a shared global vision in which AI serves as a universal enabler for development.
"The focus will be on democratizing access to core AI resources such as compute, data, and foundational models, so that these resources are not concentrated in a few geographies or companies, and countries can build context-specific solutions for their societies, languages, and public systems," Sood said.
He said the summit will also seek progress on global governance, sustainability, and safety, while ensuring developing countries are active participants rather than passive consumers of AI.
"The measure of success will not be capability alone," Sood said. "It will be whether that capability translates into widely shared public value."
— IANS
Reader Comments
Inclusion and democratizing access is key. For too long, advanced tech has been concentrated in a few Western companies. If India can build context-specific solutions for our diverse languages and public systems, it will be a real win for the common citizen. Hope the execution matches the vision.
Good to see India taking a leadership role on the global stage. The "techno-legal" approach sounds practical. My only concern is the energy demand from data centers. We need to ensure our AI growth is truly sustainable and doesn't put more strain on our power grid.
As someone working in tech, the subsidized high-performance computing for universities is a massive deal. It will help bridge the gap between academic research and real-world application. The focus on workforce skilling is also critical to avoid creating a new digital divide.
The vision is excellent, but I hope it doesn't remain just a vision. We have a history of great policy papers that get bogged down in implementation. The unified data platform is a great idea, but data privacy and security must be the top priority from day one.
"Widely shared public value" – that's the phrase that matters most. AI shouldn't just be for urban elites. If it can improve agriculture, healthcare in rural areas, and vernacular education, then it will be a true success. Jai Hind!
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