The Search For AI Guardrails

As the government signals the possibility of a dedicated AI law, founders and policy experts weigh in on the guardrails, accountability measures and innovation trade-offs that could shape India’s AI future

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For nearly 25 years, India’s digital economy has largely been governed by the Information Technology Act, 2000, which was drafted long before artificial intelligence (AI) became embedded in our everyday lives. 

But as AI rapidly moves from a niche technology to critical infrastructure, powering everything from customer service and content creation to healthcare, finance and governance, policymakers are increasingly questioning whether the existing legal frameworks are enough.

The debate has gained urgency, as, with the rise of generative AI, countries across the globe are fighting concerns around growing misinformation, deepfakes, algorithmic bias, privacy and accountability. 

Amid this, India, too, is grappling with something very perplexing: how to regulate technology that is evolving faster than traditional policymaking?

Recently, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government believes a new law may be required because “the world of AI is very different from the world when the IT Act was enacted”. Now, as India weighs the need for a dedicated AI law, founders, policy experts and legal practitioners argue that India should adopt a risk-based approach focused on accountability, transparency and liability rather than copying sweeping frameworks like the EU’s AI Act.

But What Do Founders Want From India’s AI Rulebook?

If India drafts an AI law, founders appear less interested in regulating algorithms but in defining rights, responsibilities and accountability. According to Shayak Mazumder, the cofounder and CEO of Adya.ai, which enables enterprise AI infrastructure, any future AI law should start with a fundamental principle: access.

As AI increasingly becomes a layer underpinning education, work and governance, Mazumder argues that citizens should have the “right to AI” much like access to education or healthcare. He also argued that compliance requirements should be tied to the real-world risks and impact of AI systems, with stricter rules for high-risk applications and lighter........

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