Govt on AI models: The government has issued an advisory for social media and other platforms to label under-trial AI models and prevent the hosting of unlawful content, following a recent controversy involving Google's AI platform's response to queries about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the advisory issued on March 1 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, intermediaries and platforms are warned of criminal action for non-compliance. It states that all platforms must ensure that the use of artificial intelligence models does not permit users to host, display, or share any unlawful content.

The advisory holds all platforms, intermediaries, and enables software accountable for breaches, with penal consequences for non-compliance.

The move comes after Google's AI platform, Gemini, made controversial comments about Prime Minister Modi's policies. Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar criticised the platform's response, calling it a violation of IT laws.

Union Minister for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar stressed the need for platforms to openly disclose and seek consent from users before deploying under-trial or inaccurate platforms on the Indian internet.

The advisory also requires entities to seek government approval for deploying under-trial or unreliable AI models and deploy them only after labelling them as potentially fallible or unreliable.

This advisory is a continuation of the government's efforts to regulate AI models and prevent the spread of misinformation, following a previous advisory issued on December 26, 2023, which focused on deepfakes and misinformation.

(With PTI inputs)