TechTicker Issue 63: February 2025

It's been a surprisingly exciting month in the world of tech. This month, we have seen a series of AI developments — the packed French AI Action Summit, OpenAI v. ANI dispute and key tech callouts in the recent Union Budget 2025.

But even that got (almost) overshadowed recently with a new controversy about obscene content on the internet—a joke made by a comedian has become the centre of a firestorm.

This edition will cover a range of juicy tech updates. Without further ado, grab your café au lait and croissants, and let’s dive deep into what unfolded at the recent talk-of-the-town.

Bonjour from the fran?ais sommet!

What is all this AI frenzy about?: The France AI Action Summit, which is third of a series (following UK’s and South Korea’s previous summits), wrapped up in Paris. Marking a key shift from its earlier editions — i.e. from AI safety to AI opportunity, the two-day tech extravaganza was co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister ?Narendra Modi.

The star-studded summit saw participation from over 100 countries. Senior leaders from other tech powerhouse countries like United States Vice President JD Vance, China’s Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing and Canada’s Justin Trudeau attended. Attempts were made to “democratise” the summit as much as possible—with President Macron announcing the setting up of Current AI, a USD 400 million “public interest AI platform and incubator” backed by entities in France, India, Chile, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria, among others. While nations from the Global South featured prominently in the summit, several key Middle Eastern powers – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan were absent. ?

An industry perspective on the transformative potential of AI, impact on the economy and need for a balanced global framework was brought in by the likes of Google’s Sundar Pichai (who seems to have had his own chai par charcha with our PM!), OpenAI’s Sam Altman and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, among others.

The declaration: The summit discussions underlined the importance of reinforcing diversity in the AI ecosystem, resulting in a joint statement on inclusive and sustainable AI. Priorities reaffirmed by the declaration include:

• Accessibility to reduce digital divides.
• Open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy for all.
• Enabling conditions for AI development.
• Encouraging AI development for future of work.
• Towards sustainable AI.
• Reinforcing international cooperation for governance.

Signed by 61 countries, including France, India, and China — with the notable absence of US and United Kingdom (UK) (who cited national interest and differing views), the declaration laid the foundation for...

...Voilà, some cool new initiatives:

• Public interest AI platform to address the digital divide, and the Paris charter on AI in the public interest — endorsed by 10 countries, agreeing on principles of openness, accountability, participation and transparency. (Psst: India is one of the 10 countries).
• Coalition for environmentally sustainable AI which has 91 partners on board to make AI sustainable. (Psst: Our PM specifically lauded this initiative in his concluding remarks.) And, launch of an AI and energy observatory to showcase energy-friendly AI innovation.
• Pledge for trustworthy AI in work outlining objectives for companies like human capital investment, dignity, non-discrimination, worker privacy protection, and promoting productivity and inclusivity.

PM's big moves at the summit and after: Before the summit even kicked off on February 10, 2025, PM Modi was already making waves with his departure statement. He set the stage, saying this summit would bring world leaders and tech CEOs together to collaborate on AI that’s inclusive, secure, and, of course, trustworthy.

At the summit, PM Modi turned the spotlight on AI’s world-changing potential, calling for AI that’s responsible and free from bias. He stressed that innovation must be balanced with risk management (basically, AI should be cool and careful). He also flexed India’s AI credentials, highlighting the country’s epic digital infrastructure, which serves over 1.4 billion people! And if you thought India’s AI talent pool was just a drop in the ocean, think again. Modi urged global investment in skilling and reskilling, because let’s face it, India’s got talent (though latent, not anymore). In his closing remarks, he declared that India will host the next global AI summit, reportedly between November 2025 and January 2026.

In a nutshell, PM Modi’s leadership at the summit set the stage for a collaborative, responsible, and inclusive AI future, with India poised to take the lead in shaping global AI innovation.

Spotlight on India: India demonstrated some serious levelling up at the global stage. Here is some of the most talked about and latest buzz:

• India and France teamed up for an AI Policy roundtable: Hosted by India’s Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA), along with the Indian Institute of Science and the IndiaAI Mission, the second in the series roundtable held in Paris got into the nitty-gritty of sovereign AI models, ethical AI, and the ever-important global AI standards. It's all about keeping AI on track and making sure it's serving everyone — not just Silicon Valley’s finest!
• Indian think-tanks co-hosted deliberation data for development: AI4India and Centre for Policy Research and Governance hosted a discussion on Data for Development: Building AI in the Global South. This session was all about data sovereignty, AI’s economic impact, and shaping the future workforce.
• BFF moment for India and France: During the summit, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had a productive chat with his French counterpart, focusing on AI cooperation, innovation, and clean energy. Looks like India and France are really going to write 2026 as the year of innovation together!

Bytes from the Budget

The announcement of Union Budget 2025 sparked a wave of memes — with the Finance minister’s middle-class tax bonanza taking center stage. She announced that no income tax will be payable on earnings up to INR 12 lakhs per annum under the new tax regime. Post the announcement, while doomscrolling all the fun on the internet, we unpacked the Budget’s impact, especially on tech.

• Serious AI boost: The government is doubling down on AI with a whopping INR 2000 crore allocation for the IndiaAI mission. With the mission driving responsible and inclusive growth of India's AI ecosystem, the major leap from last year’s INR 173 crore, underscores the government’s AI commitment. The Budget will fund 20 AI curation units in central ministries, 80 IndiaAI Labs nationwide, 25 deep-tech startups, and three industry-led projects. Plus, there’s an additional INR 500 Cr for a new AI Centre of Excellence focused on education.
• Startups to get fresh focus: Startups have always had a fan in this government, and this Budget extends that support with a brand-new INR 10,000 Cr Fund of Funds to improve long-term funding. Additionally, it seeks to focus on simplifying compliance and taxes for startups means they can spend more time innovating and less time navigating red tape. And, let’s not forget the new schemes to make credit easier to access for MSMEs. These developments have been met with cheer from the industry.
• R&D to fuel the future: Innovation is still king. INR 20,000 Cr is allocated for private sector R&D, including a deep-tech fund. We’re talking AI, semiconductors, and other cutting-edge tech.
• Made in India 2.0: The focus on manufacturing competitiveness continues with the launch of the National Manufacturing Mission. The goal? Support central ministries and states in scaling up manufacturing, all while aligning with the government’s commitment to eco-friendly clean-tech manufacturing. It’s a sustainable manufacturing renaissance.
• Fin-clusion: Good news for street vendors! For increased loan options, UPI can now be linked with credit cards upto INR 30,000 to make financial services accessible under the PM SWANidhi scheme for street vendors. Also, the Central KYC Registry is getting an upgrade and will be streamlined to make digital verification smoother and faster. Financial inclusion just got a major boost.
• Gig workers: Recognising the contribution of gig workers, the government will arrange for identity cards and their registration under the eShram portal. To provide social security to gig workers, the government has announced healthcare insurance, under PM Jan Aarogya Yojana, likely to assist over 1 crore gig workers.
• Data protection board (DPB): The DPB is receiving an increased Budget of INR 5 Cr (up from INR 2 Cr last year); and 75% of the tasks for setting up the Digital Office will be completed by FY 2025-26. With the recent data rules drop, this increase shows the government’s continued commitment to making sure our data is safe.
• Tax breaks galore for electronics and hardware: To make domestic electronics manufacturing more competitive, the Budget slashes import duties on key electronic components. Some EV and lithium-ion battery manufacturing capital goods will now be exempt from customs duties, which should make clean-tech production more cost-effective. There’s also a new presumptive taxation regime for non-Indian residents providing services to electronics manufacturing companies operating in India — which is likely to help these companies attract top global talent. It’s a win-win for innovation and tax clarity—critical for India’s image as an investment-friendly destination.

Connecting the Dots

• India’s got controversies: A popular show hosted by comedian Samay Raina, got into trouble after a fellow panelist, Ranveer Allahbadia made controversial comments. In a question (that seemed like a rip-off from an Australian YouTube channel), Allahbadia asked a contestant whether they would watch their parents engage in intimate relations every day or join them once and never speak of it again. This sparked social media outrage, attention of senior government officials (like Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis), and led to the police charging the show’s judges for promoting explicit and inappropriate content. Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communication have indicated their intention to raise the matter with the committee—the committee asked the MIB to share a note on amendments required in law to curb controversial content on the internet. Following government directives, the relevant episode was removed from YouTube. Reports confirm that all episodes of the show were taken down from YouTube. In the days since, Allahbadia has received interim protection from the Supreme Court, with the bench coming down heavily on the language used by him. The court also orally observed that it would be “very happy” if the government took steps to control obscene content on the internet, referring to this as a regulatory “vacuum”.
• ?Make in India ft. AI: The IndiaAI mission is in full swing, with a new call for proposals to develop foundational AI models tailored to Indian languages and datasets. With the government securing nearly 19,000 GPUs from top tech companies, the initiative aims to create models with a focus on agriculture, healthcare, and climate change. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has praised DeepSeek’s low-cost AI, and recently announced that India's first AI foundational model will be ready within 10 months. New reportage indicates that IndiaAI Mission will provide common compute capacity through about 14,000 GPUs, after ten shortlisted companies met the lowest bids for different GPU types. The push towards homegrown AI comes with the goal of reducing dependence on foreign models, ensuring that India’s digital future is powered by its own innovation. Expect to see some serious advancements in AI models that resonate in the Indian contexts!
• ?Data protection for the win: India is making strides in data protection with the IT Ministry’s latest draft data rules covering consent management, data breach protocols, and cross-border data transfer guidelines, all designed with a digital-first approach. The ministry is hosting a series of invite-only consultations, with the public consultation period running until 5 March, 2025. The IT Minister has commented that final rules should be set to roll out by mid-2025.
• ?SEBI proposes UPI for capital markets: India’s capital markets regulator, SEBI, is upping the ante on payment mechanisms with a new proposal aimed at improving security and efficiency. The plan? A revamped UPI system for the market. SEBI is looking to introduce unique alphanumeric UPI IDs for registered intermediaries and bump up the daily payment limit from INR 2 lakh to INR 5 lakh (around USD 6,000). And, because who doesn’t love a good visual cue, there will be a “thumbs-up” icon inside a green triangle to verify payments to trusted intermediaries. If the thought of smoother transactions in the capital markets excites you, then mark your calendar — SEBI is inviting public comments until February 21, 2025. This is a step forward from the 2019 introduction of UPI as a payment mode in the capital markets and is expected to help tackle the growing concern around fraudulent fund collections by unregistered entities.

From courtrooms to your inbox

• Misinformation showdown: In a plot twist that sounds like it’s straight out of a Bollywood blockbuster, the Bachchan family is suing Google for spreading misinformation. The case, filed in 2023, revolves around the spread of misinformation regarding Aaradhya Bachchan. As a publicity gimmick, false videos regarding her ill-health (and in some cases claims that she is no more) are being circulated by media reporters on digital platforms. The Delhi High Court is now moving the case forward, with a notice for a summary judgment issued against the defendant leading digital platforms. Mark your calendars, the next hearing is set for March 17, 2025. In the meantime, the court issued asked platforms to remove the harmful content, emphasising protections against misleading information about minors regardless of their public profile. This case will be addressing three key themes: responsibility of platforms in content moderation, spread of false health information, and complexities of safeguarding minors in the digital age.
• ?The continuing OpenAI saga: Just when you thought the OpenAI drama couldn’t get juicier, here comes a new lawsuit from India! The news agency Asian News International (ANI) is suing OpenAI, claiming that ChatGPT is guilty of illegally scraping its content and spreading fake news. ANI alleges that even though OpenAI stopped using its content in September 2024, the agency’s content is still “permanently stored” in ChatGPT’s digital brain. But wait, there’s more. OpenAI is playing hardball, arguing that Indian courts have no jurisdiction here and that complying with any orders could make them break some serious US laws. The plot thickened with some heavyweight media companies, like HT Media and NDTV, wanting to join the case. It’s not just a legal battle — it’s becoming a whole media showdown. Let’s not forget the book publishers (yes, they’re getting involved, too). Penguin Random House and Cambridge University Press have jumped into the ring, claiming OpenAI is basically hosting an unauthorized digital book club. Next into the fray is the Indian Music Industry, which has sought to intervene in the matter.

Shout-outs!

• We, along with the IT Ministry and UNESCO Regional Office for South Asia hosted our second stakeholder consultation for AI Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) in India, in Bengaluru on January 16 and 17, 2025.
• We hosted a fun industry mixer for general counsels and in-house privacy counsels to discuss the DPDP rules at the Ikigai office on January 23, 2025.
• Nehaa Chaudhari, Aman Taneja, and Vidushi Sinha were at the iTech Law India conference between January 30 and 31, 2025. Nehaa moderated the panel on ‘Privacy by Design: What it takes to build a privacy-first organisation?’
• Ikigai, in collaboration with the All India Gaming Federation and the All India Games Developers’ Federation, is hosting a webinar: ‘Children & Persons with Disabilities: Key Implications of the Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025’.

That’s all for now!

?We’d love to hear your feedback, concerns or issues you’d like us to cover. Or, you could just drop in to say hi. We are available at [email protected] .

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Signing off, the Ticker team for this edition: Nehaa Isha Vidushi.