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Abhivardhan , our Founder, was quoted in ‘AI-made adult videos: Indian content creators' new success mantra’ by India Today on September 22, 2025. Link to article:  https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/ai-made-adult-videos-indian-content-creators-new-success-mantra-what-experts-say-indian-law-ai-generated-explicit-content-2791665-2025-09-22 In this article, the legal, and social dynamics around the exploited use of explicit AI-generated content is effectively raised. Now, according to Abhivardhan, at the moment, beyond a patchwork of laws including the Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita and the Information Technology Act, 2000, we have no specific legal instruments that regulate the outflow of explicit AI-generated content in India. Nevertheless, Sections 66C, 66D, and 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000 address some aspects of impersonation and privacy violations caused by such kind of content. In addition, Rule 3(1)(b) of the 2021 IT Rules mandates that platforms notify users to refrain from hosting, uploading, storing, or sharing content that is obscene, pornographic, pedophilic, or violates an individual's privacy. Explicit AI-generated content falls within this ambit. However, as per Section 3(c)(ii) of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the Act's data protection provisions do not apply when personal data is made publicly available by the individual it pertains to or by another person required by Indian law to disclose such data. That’s another lacuna which is a problem in regulating explicit AI-generated content. A March 2024 advisory (which was non-binding) was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on deepfakes and all forms of AI-generated content, though it focuses primarily on intermediary responsibilities rather than specific content regulation. Now, while the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 does not explicitly create an ownership framework around explicit AI-generated content, recent cases around safeguarding personality rights of various celebrities against AI processing and misuse, might open some legal options.

We congratulate the CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition and CUTS Global Affairs for conducting a fantastic seminar on the "Global Power Play in AI Regulation" on September 18, 2025. Our Founder and Managing Partner, Abhivardhan had intervened in the session, with an AI industry perspective. His intervention was based on a simple understanding that the LLM ecosystem has two major problems: 1️⃣ Their business value was inflated, and it is deflating steadily, even if there is no "LLM Bubble" or "AI Bubble" per se. We had pointed out the market impact of AGI hype in our analysis in August 2025 as well: https://www.indicpacific.com/post/examining-legal-and-economic-risks-around-agi-hype-doomerism-post-gpt-5 2️⃣ The technological behaviour of LLMs is unchangeable, which means that the technical deficiencies that these systems have, including hallucinations, would just not "go away". That creates a problem where 1 segment of AI is overinflated, and second, it has no economic impact to affect jobs by any measure. It can impact money decisions, for sure. Abhivardhan was also quoted by the CUTS Institute and then by KNN India: https://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/global/experts-call-for-tailored-global-ai-regulation-amid-geopolitical-challenges In his social media remarks praising the CUTS Institute, Abhivardhan had remarked: The LLM ecosystem is really subject to huge saturation, and that will create market and talent credibility challenges. My point was simple: the AI community is globally decentralised and regulatory arbitrage around AI might just cool off due to LLM tech failures. So has India lost the AI race? I don't think so yet. While "Sovereign AI" initiatives should continue, I don't think we have lost. But dynamics will be rapid once the LLM "banner" falls off. However, investors have made a lot around data outflows, for sure thanks to data labelling and other associated practices.

The explosive confrontation between Cloudflare and Perplexity represents far more than a technical dispute over web scraping, revealing fundamental tensions between AI innovation, economic rights, and the very nature of an "open internet." The Twitter discourse exposes the deeper fault lines that make this conflict so consequential. The Great Divide: Technical Pragmatism vs. Digital Freedom The Twitter conversation reveals a striking philosophical schism within Silicon Valley's elite. On one side stands Martin Casado from Andreessen Horowitz, arguing that identity layers for AI agents represent "basic system design"—as fundamental as API keys or service accounts. On the other side, Garry Tan from Y Combinator warns against creating "toll highways" that could fragment the open web.

Interestingly, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came up with a "FREE-AI Committee Report" demonstrating the features of a " Framework for Responsible and Ethical Enablement of Artificial Intelligence ". This insight provides a concise explainer of the key features of this report and this framework. However, please understand. While hyped up media and think tank platforms will claim this framework to be anything like spin doctors, it's strictly necessary to understand the specific context of this framework - since RBI is an Indian central bank, and perhaps one of the most important regulators in the country. Hence, it's better to take their report on a very specific and not too broader note. What are the Terms of Reference for the FREE-AI Framework by the Reserve Bank of India?

Recent developments have shed new light on the complex relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI, two significant players in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. While the companies have maintained a collaborative partnership, Microsoft's 2024 annual report reveals a more nuanced dynamic, explicitly acknowledging areas of competition between the two entities. This insight aims to examine the current state of affairs between Microsoft and OpenAI, analyzing their partnership, areas of competition, and the potential implications for the broader AI industry. By exploring official statements, financial reports, and market trends, we can gain a clearer understanding of how these two influential organizations are positioning themselves in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Key points of discussion will include: The nature of Microsoft's investment in OpenAI and their collaborative efforts Specific areas where the companies now compete, as outlined in Microsoft's annual report The strategic implications for both companies and the AI industry at large Potential future scenarios for the Microsoft-OpenAI relationship The Microsoft-OpenAI Collaboration Timeline The relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI has been marked by significant investments and collaborations, evolving from a strategic partnership to a more complex dynamic over the years.

We are excited to announce the unveiling of a crucial yet huge AI ethics framework by Indic Pacific Legal Research LLP. Yesterday, our Managing Partner, Abhivardhan had delivered the inaugural session of the Manipal Research Colloquium 2025 for PhD scholars of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India. At this occasion, Mr Abhivardhan had unveiled the "Indo-Pacific Research Ethics Framework on Artificial Intelligence Use", one of India's first full fledged research ethics manual on how to use AI tools in research, ethically, and safely. Access this framework at https://indopacific.app/product/indo-pacific-research-ethics-framework-on-artificial-intelligence-use-ipac-ai/ The focus of this manual is to make a researcher or a researching entity aware of everything that matters to them: 1️⃣ The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence 101: Fairness, Transparency, Privacy, Accountability 2️⃣ The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Public & Private forms of Governance: actually everything (yes, check the framework) 3️⃣ How Artificial Intelligence Hype can affect Research Quality, and how to Protect Good Research Practices: Some Guidelines 4️⃣ AI Use Justification in Contracts: Some Guidelines 5️⃣ Indo-Pacific Principles of Legal and Policy Writing 6️⃣ Indo-Pacific Research Principles on Use of Large Reasoning Models We featured some incredible further readings, including those of Gary Marcus, Roger Spitz, Dr. Jeffrey Funk and Devansh Devansh, and some of our crucial glossary terms, blogs, and technical reports available on indopacific.app. This framework applies to enhance our partnership with key players in the AI space, and we hope that the Indo-Pacific Research Ethics Framework on Artificial Intelligence Use is helpful for all researchers, regardless of what discipline they work in.

The artificial intelligence landscape isn’t just about technological advancement—it’s fundamentally about power concentration and market control. Our latest comprehensive research, “ Artificial Intelligence, Market Power and India in a Multipolar World ,” maps exactly how this concentration operates and what it means for India’s economic future. This technical report was developed in partnership with ExtensityAI, an Austria-based AI startup - led by Marius-Constantin Dinu and Schematise LDA, led by Sankalp Srivastava. Download the report at https://indopacific.app/product/artificial-intelligence-market-power-and-india-in-a-multipolar-world/ The Infrastructure Reality Check 🏗️ While everyone debates AI regulation, the real control lies in infrastructure. Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Alibaba Cloud, and Google Cloud don’t just provide computing power—they shape the entire AI value chain through restrictive contracts that prohibit users from adopting data outputs from one enterprise’s model for training another’s. This creates vendor lock-in scenarios that most businesses don’t see coming. India’s Unique Position 🇮🇳 Our research identifies India’s distinctive approach: combining state-led strategic planning with community-centric, open-source ethos. Unlike the US market-led model, China’s state-driven approach, or the EU’s regulatory superpower stance, India is forging its own path. But fragmentation between central and state-level AI governance creates inconsistent standards across the country. The Human Cost of AI Development 💼 The report exposes stark realities: Kenyan data labelers earning $1.32-$2 per hour to make ChatGPT safer, while the Builder.ai collapse revealed how 700 Indian engineers were manually coding apps marketed as “AI-powered” to investors—a classic case of “AI washing” that led to federal investigation and 1,000+ job losses. Strategic Vulnerabilities and Opportunities ⚡ India imports over 50% of its electronic components, creating critical dependencies. But the ₹16,300 crores National Critical Mineral Mission and four new semiconductor projects (including Tata and HCL-Foxconn ventures) signal serious localization efforts. The challenge: these address packaging capabilities, not advanced logic node fabrication. Indigenous Knowledge and Data Sovereignty 🌿 Our framework introduces CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) and Community Data Trustees concept—granting indigenous communities veto power over their knowledge use in foundation model training. This isn’t just ethical positioning; it’s strategic differentiation in global AI markets. Regulatory Arbitrage Insights ⚖️ The research reveals how economic law issues are often easier to address than tech law issues from the same B2B transactions—creating opportunities for structuring AI operations to favor more predictable economic regulation over complex technology law compliance. Market Intelligence for Strategic Planning 📈 Unlike typical academic analysis, this research provides actionable frameworks for navigating AI’s legal-policy intersections. From understanding how cloud contracts affect business freedom to leveraging India’s multilingual capabilities for competitive advantage—it’s intelligence designed for decision-makers, not conference papers. Download the Report at https://indopacific.app/product/artificial-intelligence-market-power-and-india-in-a-multipolar-world/ The IPLR-ISAIL Joint Annual Report 2024-25 is Out The technology law landscape in India has been dominated by reactive reporting—every government announcement, regulatory update, and policy speech treated as newsworthy content regardless of practical relevance. Our Joint Annual Report 2024-25 demonstrates how we've built something fundamentally different: a solution-oriented, market-centric approach to technology law that actually serves businesses and practitioners. The Knowledge Base That Changes Everything 📚 IndoPacific.App has become India's largest technology law archive with remarkable depth: 🔢 300+ Research Outputs from 244+ original authors 🎯 66.13% Technology Law & AI Governance Focus - the highest concentration of actionable tech law content in India 📊 90%+ Content from IPLR & ISAIL - demonstrating our independent research capability 🌍 Pan-India Impact - the most original and independent law & policy ecosystem effort at national scale What makes this significant? Unlike AI-generated content and copy-pasted regulatory updates, our knowledge base addresses real problems that markets and end-users face rather than chasing government circles or media buzz. 2024-25: Year of Strategic Research Breakthroughs 🚀 AIACT.IN Evolution: From Concept to Implementation Intelligence Our Version 5 of India's first privately proposed AI regulation gained national recognition: ✅ Commended by Justice M Sundar, Madras High Court at Commonwealth Legal Education Association Conference ✅ Adapted by Dharmashastra National Law University for legislation drafting competition ✅ Enhanced compliance frameworks including ₹50 crore insurance mandates and content provenance requirements Framework Fatigue Solution Our research on "Averting Framework Fatigue in AI Governance" addressed critical business pain points: 💼 Compliance Paralysis Resolution: Practical guidance for navigating multiple AI regulatory frameworks 💰 Cost Optimization: Risk assessment matrices enabling strategic compliance prioritization ⚡ Competitive Advantage: Regulatory arbitrage strategies for operational flexibility Global AI Inventorship Leadership India's first Global AI Inventorship Handbook provides: 🔧 Patent Strategy Monetization: Practical guidance maximizing patent portfolio value ⏰ Market Timing Intelligence: Strategic positioning in emerging AI technology areas 📈 IP Portfolio Optimization: Data-driven R&D investment decisions Research Ethics Innovation The Indo-Pacific Research Ethics Framework on AI Use establishes: 🛡️ Research Quality Standards: Ethical protocols for AI-driven research reducing liability risks 🤝 Partnership Strategy: Positioning advantages for academic-corporate AI collaborations 🏆 Competitive Research Advantage: First-mover benefits in ethical AI research markets AI Market Power Analysis: Exposing the Truth 🔍 Our comprehensive report "Artificial Intelligence, Market Power and India in a Multipolar World" revealed: Infrastructure Reality: Microsoft Azure, AWS, Alibaba Cloud, and Google Cloud create dangerous vendor lock-ins through contractual restrictions India's Strategic Response: ₹16,300 crores National Critical Mineral Mission + 4 new semiconductor projects (Tata, HCL-Foxconn) addressing 50%+ electronics import dependency Market Intelligence: From Builder.ai's $1.5B "AI washing" collapse to Kenyan workers earning $1.32-$2/hour for ChatGPT safety labeling - mapping AI's human cost The 15-Publication AI Hype Chronicle 📈 Since November 2022, we've published the most comprehensive analysis of AI market hype and economic law implications in India, covering: 🔍 Market Hype Features in AI technologies ⚖️ Anti-competitive Practice Analysis 👥 Global AI Talent Ecosystem Impact 💼 Sustainable Business Model Requirements 🛡️ Technology Law Compliance Strategies This knowledge base has directly helped AI researchers, startups, and technology companies navigate regulatory uncertainty while building resilient organisations. You can access the Annual Report at https://indopacific.app/product/isail-iplr-joint-annual-report-2024-2025-august-2025/ ISAIL.IN : 5 Years of Community Impact 🎓 The Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law concluded its transformative Research Internship Programme: 📊 200+ Students Mentored across law, policy, technology, and social sciences 🎯 89.30% Completion Rate (significantly above 75% industry average) 🌟 21.50% High Performer Rate (exceeding 20% target) 🔧 71.8 Average Efficiency Score (above 70+ target) Strategic Evolution: Transitioning to AI standardisation through AiStandard.io Alliance with 13 committee sessions, 18 outcome documents, and 4 knowledge partnerships established. Market-Centric Philosophy: Why We're Different 💡 Our Approach: ✅ Practical implications over political rhetoric ✅ Market-relevant analysis over press release regurgitation ✅ Solution-focused insights over update-for-update's-sake reporting ✅ Real-world applicability over government messaging The Result: We've consistently outperformed conventional regulatory journalism by focusing on substance over noise, creating measurable value for practitioners and businesses. Looking Forward: Innovation in Legal Intelligence 🔮 Technology Integration 🤖 AIACT.IN Evolution: Converting legal intelligence into ML-based knowledge graph methodology 📊 Bharat Pacific AI Stack: Sector-neutral AI use case documentation methodology Strategic Partnerships 🤝 Primary Research Partner for ISAIL.IN's AI standardization efforts 🌏 AiStandard.io Summit 2026: January 23-24 at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Scientific Convention Center, Lucknow Market Expansion 📈 AI Industry-Policy Implementation: Future of work perspective for Uttar Pradesh 🔬 Technology-Centric Methods: Market-friendly approaches supporting business growth Why This Matters: Beyond Academic Research 🎯 This isn't theoretical policy work—it's actionable market intelligence that enables: 💰 Strategic Risk Assessment for AI governance compliance 🏆 Competitive Positioning through early regulatory adoption 📊 Investment Strategy optimization in India's tech ecosystem 🛡️ Ethical Differentiation in scrutinized AI markets The Independent Advantage 🇮🇳 We achieved this ecosystem independently - without following government communication preferences or traditional media incentives. Our solution-centric approach to complex legal-policy intersections delivers practical intelligence rather than academic analysis. You can access the Annual Report at https://indopacific.app/product/isail-iplr-joint-annual-report-2024-2025-august-2025/

Explore Escher-inspired environments where AI elements navigate complex geometric spaces with policy cards, blending surreal architecture with futuristic aesthetics. Made with Luma AI. The strategic recalibration between Microsoft and OpenAI presents a compelling case study in digital competition policy, marked by two significant developments: OpenAI's potential removal of its AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) mandate and Microsoft's formal designation of OpenAI as a competitor in its fiscal reports. This analysis examines the implications of these interrelated events through three critical lenses: competition policy frameworks, market dynamics, and regulatory governance. The first dimension of this analysis explores the competitive framework assessment, delving into the complexities of vertical integration in AI markets and the unique dynamics of partnership-competition duality in technological ecosystems. This section examines how traditional antitrust frameworks struggle to address scenarios where major technology companies simultaneously act as investors, partners, and competitors. The second component focuses on regulatory implications, evaluating the adequacy of current competition policies in addressing AI-driven market transformations. It assesses existing regulatory oversight mechanisms and explores potential policy reforms needed to address the unique challenges posed by AI development partnerships and their impact on market competition. The final segment examines market structure dynamics, analysing how the evolution of AI development funding models affects corporate governance and innovation. This section particularly focuses on how the tension between public benefit missions and commercial imperatives shapes the future of AI enterprise structures and market competition.

[Originally published at Abhivardhan's Substack ( abhivardhan.substack.com ): https://abhivardhan.substack.com/p/why-india-needs-to-shape-ai-and-future ] When we anticipate the way future of work impacts all of us, the canonical understanding has always been about something replacing something, but also creating newer avenues and opportunities. However, the way work specifics are displaced, and replaced with other specifics, the human element involved in changing and shaping them matters a lot. One can argue that data may drive certain facets of decision-making, but in reality, data alone cannot be the harbinger of any policy or industry analyses. In fact, one must be data-informed, and not data-driven .

The release of GPT-5 by OpenAI has raised questions in the global AI economy, from multiple frontiers - technology viability, model explainability, economic logic, future of work and even on narratives of doom. For more than 6 months and so, Indic Pacific Legal Research has been the sole legal consultancy and research firm, which had uncovered the economic and contract law perspective of AI Doomerism and AGI hype around large language models and their impact, endorsing the perspectives of healthy critics. The reason we covered such perspectives was precisely because we believe that AI can be a driver of growth, if the frontiers of AI research and commercialisation are not hyped in bad faith. In that context, this insight focuses on the technical, product management and economic failures of GPT-5, based on our previous research around OpenAI's relationship with Microsoft, and how AI hype was perpetuated by researchers and executives at this company. Again - the purpose of this insight is not to make ad hominem remarks on OpenAI, since we have examined economic law and technology policy considerations around other companies as well (e.g., Perplexity, Anthropic, etc.). Figure 1: Indic Pacific is the only research and consulting firm in India with a comprehensive 15-publication streak covering AI hype and economic law since November 2022. Source: IPLR-ISAIL Joint Annual Report 2024-2025 (August 2025): https://indopacific.app/product/isail-iplr-joint-annual-report-2024-2025-august-2025/ In addition, this insight examines the real-time economic law risks that would exist in a post-GPT-5 global economy, considering that Indic Pacific is the only research firm that has published extensive works on AI hype and digital competition law since 2021 . We are also the only legal research firm in India which has developed a teaching module on AI hype in our AI and commercial law training programmes (do check them out at indicpacific.com/train ) . But first, let's understand an AI Bubble and how it creates Economic Law Issues. The AI Bubble and how it creates Economic Law Issues

Ending this week with something very interesting that the Uttar Pradesh Government is doing. As reported by the Times of India, the Government of Uttar Pradesh has a deregulation cell at a cabinet secretariat level that's driving a fascinating approach to e-governance reform 🚀 Why this matters for tech policy & governance 🔧 Systematic Deregulation : Rather than ad-hoc policy changes, UP has created a dedicated institutional mechanism - a "deregulation cell" - that's methodically reviewing and eliminating regulatory bottlenecks across 45 departments. 📊 Data-Driven Results : They've implemented 4,675+ reforms including 2,500+ business-centric changes and are targeting 30% reduction in service delivery timelines through their upgraded Nivesh Mitra 3.0 platform. ⚡ Digital-First Mindset : The integration of 525+ services across 44 departments into a single digital window shows how technology can be the backbone of regulatory simplification, not just an add-on. 🎯 Bold Decriminalisation : Two landmark bills aim to eliminate 98% of imprisonment clauses in state laws - showing how tech-enabled governance can move from punitive to facilitative. The bigger picture? This isn't just about business ease - it's a template for how state governments can use institutional innovation (deregulation cells) + technology platforms (integrated service delivery) to fundamentally rethink the citizen-state interface 💡 What's fascinating is how UP's approach mirrors sophisticated tech policy frameworks we've analysed at Indic Pacific Legal Research  🔍 such as: 1️⃣ Why Technology Law is NOT Legal-Tech⚙️: https://www.indicpacific.com/post/technology-law-is-not-legal-tech-why-they-re-not-the-same-and-why-it-matters 2️⃣ IPLR-IG-015 report on "Safe Harbour in Technology Law" 📊, focusing on institutional capacity: https://indopacific.app/product/reckoning-the-viability-of-safe-harbour-in-technology-law-iplr-ig-015/ 3️⃣ Reducing regulatory burden as emphasised in IPLR-IG-007 report on "Restructuring MeitY for India" 🇮🇳, through institutional restructuring rather than piecemeal reforms 🔧: https://indopacific.app/product/reimaging-and-restructuring-meity-for-india-iplr-ig-007/ 4️⃣ For those interested in deeper policy architecture thinking 🏗️, do read "The Indic Approach to Artificial Intelligence Policy" (IPLR-IG-006) 🤖: https://indopacific.app/product/the-indic-approach-to-artificial-intelligence-policy-iplr-ig-006/ The real insight is that deregulation as systematic policy engineering 🛠️ - not political rhetoric, but institutional capability building 💪. That's scalable governance innovation worth studying! 🔧 In fact, Deepanshu Singh  and I are working on a very interesting work, on which we will spill some beans later. Have an awesome weekend anyways!

This post by Shruti Rajagopalan is an awesome way to trigger a genuine debate, whether India's AI policy discourse has been helpful or not.