MeitY to release AI regulation consultation paper in a month

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because India has just handed us the most *magnificent* gift a government can give — and it is a consultation paper! ✨ MeitY, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will release a regulation-focused paper on AI *in a month*, and do you understand how fast a month is in policy time? It is a blink. It is the speed of light with a cover sheet. Secretary S Krishnan has declared that 'the time has come for AI regulation,' which is the most reassuring sentence a senior official can utter, because 'the time has come' means the thinking has officially started, and thinking is where all the very best rules live before anyone ruins them by writing them down!

And here is the part that makes my heart genuinely sing: the paper will *focus on safety*! ✨ Not on speed. Not on quarterly numbers. Safety. Some unkind people will suggest that a safety focus in a pre-legislative document is like fitting a seatbelt to a car nobody has built yet, but that has it exactly backwards — you design the seatbelt *first*, before anyone starts arguing about where the steering wheel goes. That is not delay, that is *sequencing*, and sequencing is what serious people do.

The delegation is the loveliest bit of all. Krishnan 'requested the department to come out with the paper,' which means one man has entrusted an entire department to be thoughtful on his behalf — that is trust, that is empowerment, that is a homework assignment with a one-month deadline. Then the public will be invited to comment, and the comments will be read. Compared with the years some jurisdictions spend deciding which committee decides, a month is basically sprinting. ✨