India will introduce comprehensive regulations to combat deepfakes in the near future, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced at the NDTV World Summit 2025 in New Delhi. The minister emphasized that the upcoming framework will adopt a dual-component approach combining technical solutions with legal measures, rather than relying solely on traditional legislation.
Vaishnaw explained that artificial intelligence cannot be effectively regulated through conventional lawmaking alone, as the technology requires innovative technical interventions. He acknowledged that while AI enables entertaining applications like age transformation filters, deepfakes pose unprecedented threats to society by potentially misusing individuals' faces and voices to disseminate false messages completely disconnected from the actual person.
The minister highlighted the fundamental right of individuals to protect their identity from harmful misuse, stating that this principle forms the foundation of the government's approach to deepfake regulation. The techno-legal strategy distinguishes India's methodology from the European Union's primarily regulatory framework, with India prioritizing innovation alongside societal protection.
As part of the technical solution, Vaishnaw referenced ongoing work at the AI Safety Institute, specifically mentioning that the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur has developed a detection system capable of identifying deepfakes with over 90 percent accuracy. This technological advancement will complement the legal framework to create a more robust defense mechanism.
The minister also discussed India's broader AI infrastructure development, noting that two semiconductor manufacturing units, CG Semi and Kaynes, have commenced production operations in the country. Additionally, six indigenous AI models are currently under development, with two utilizing approximately 120 billion parameters designed to be free from biases present in Western models.
The government has deployed 38,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI development and secured a $15 billion investment commitment from Google to establish a major AI hub in India. This infrastructure expansion aims to enhance the nation's research capabilities and application development in artificial intelligence.
