Vaishnaw Emphasizes Need for Consent and Regulation in the Era of Deepfakes

India's IT Minister Outlines Plans for AI, Semiconductor Production, and Platform Regulation

Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's Union IT Minister, highlighted the need for measures to address deepfakes and platform-led content dissemination at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026. He emphasized the importance of revenue sharing with content creators and media houses, stating that the issue must be discussed in a consultative manner.

Revenue Sharing

Vaishnaw noted that content creators and media houses invest significantly and that it is essential to reward this investment properly. He pointed out that currently, revenue goes to platforms first, and that practically every country is considering revenue sharing. The Minister emphasized that the revenue-sharing issue must be undertaken in a consultative manner.

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AI Transition and IT Sector Shift

India's IT sector is transitioning from coding to automated coding, with the architecture being designed by IT companies. The government is providing the talent pipeline, and responsibility lies with industry, central, and state governments. Vaishnaw described the AI shift as a "once in a generation transition."

Scaling AI Compute and Data Centre Incentives

Vaishnaw emphasized the need to scale up India's investment and compute to a significant high level, with a target of around 200,000 GPUs or more. A tax break for data centres will be crucial in achieving this goal.

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Semiconductor Production

The Minister announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commence commercial production at the Micron plant on Wednesday. The plant will produce high bandwidth memory used in laptops and cameras. Three more plants are in pilot production, with two more expected to start commercial production soon and a fourth by the end of the year. Vaishnaw claimed that India will meet the entire talent shortfall in the semiconductor industry.

Renewable Energy Grid and Power Mix

India's grid has been rebuilt over the last decade and is designed for ups and downs associated with renewable energy. Renewable energy accounts for 50% of total power generation.

Railways Capex Utilisation and Reforms

Vaishnaw reported that Railways has a 94% utilisation of capital expenditure. The Minister outlined plans for 52 reforms, with four already rolled out, focusing on safety, maintenance, and production.