Google Gemini’s Episode Is Very Embarrassing: MoS IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Recently a controversy surrounding Google’s AI chatbot Gemini made lots of heads turn in India for all the wrong reasons. Gemini made some unpleasant remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi following which Google officially put out an apology as well. However, the Indian government issued a new advisory for social media companies and other online platforms. The goal of this step is to increase transparency and accountability regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) models deployed in the nation.

Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar termed this ‘mistake’ of Gemini as a violation of Information Technology (IT) laws and emphasised that “apologising later” is not an excuse. He said, “The episode of Google Gemini is very embarrassing.” He then talked about the advisory issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on March 1, warning platforms that failing to comply could result in legal action.

He further stressed the significance of “safe and trusted” platforms within the Indian internet ecosystem.

The advisory in short asks AI platforms to label under-trial AI, seek approval from the government before deploying AI models deemed “under-testing” or unreliable, and obtain explicit consent from users before exposing them to under-trial or unreliable AI models.

The Union Minister while talking about this advisory said, “If they want to deploy a model that is error-prone, they have to label it as under testing, take government permission and explicitly seek confirmation and consent of the user that it is an error-prone platform. They can’t come back later and say it is under testing.”

Gemini Lands Google In AI Soup

A screenshot shared on X (formerly Twitter) revealed that Gemini, when asked if PM Modi is a ‘fascist’, responded by stating that he has been “accused of implementing policies some experts have characterised as fascist.” However, when asked a similar question about former US President Donald Trump, Gemini redirected the user to conduct a Google Search for the most accurate information.

This development underscored the ongoing struggle between government authorities and technology corporations concerning the legal framework governing generative AI platforms like Gemini and ChatGPT.