Govt missive to seek nod to deploy LLMs to hurt small companies: Startups

The government’s missive that all artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) must seek “explicit permission of the government” before being deployed for users on the Indian internet, has sent shock waves among companies developing LLMs, especially startups who feel it is “anti-innovation and not forward-looking”.

Several companies building LLMs, venture capitalists as well as experts told ET such directions can kill startups trying to build in this “hyper-active” space in which India is already late to the party. It will only allow big corporations who can afford additional resources for testing, and government approval, they argued.