Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday said that the government was mulling to unveil a preliminary regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI) by June or July, amid a rise in deepfakes and AI-generated content.

During the inaugural session of the two-day NASSCOM leadership summit, Mr Chandrasekhar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI: “The government is actively developing a draft AI regulation framework, slated for release in June or July this year. Our aim is to leverage AI for economic advancement while mitigating potential risks and adverse impacts.”

“We will fully exploit the potential of AI but set up the guardrails as well to prevent misuse. We are today seen by the world at the forefront to harness AI technology. We are all for deploying AI across use cases from farm to factories, and we want to use AI for economic growth, healthcare, agriculture and farmer productivity,” the MoS was quoted as saying.

The Centre has long been planning to unveil an AI regulation framework. As early as May 2023, plans were discussed to release the initial draft of the framework. However, its release has been delayed.

Earlier, the MoS had said that the government approach to regulating AI would involve establishing principles and a comprehensive list of harms and criminalities related to the technology.