AI brings benefits but also risks; regulation has a role: IT Minister Vaishnaw

New Delhi: The government is working with industry to find the right regulatory approach to keep artificial intelligence safe and protect citizens online, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday, asserting that AI's complex user-safety dimension makes regulation necessary even as the technology brings significant benefits..The advent of any new technology brings many benefits, but also carries several risks, he pointed out..Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw orders mission-mode drive to improve safety."Whenever a new technology comes, that new technology brings many positives, but it also carries several risks. That is why regulation always plays a role in every new technology. And that regulation is primarily about user safety," Vaishnaw said on the sidelines of SEMICON India 2026..In the case of AI, the user safety dimension is very large, Vaishnaw said, describing AI safety as a very complex issue.."In the case of AI, that user-safety dimension is very big because, unlike physical technologies, for example, nuclear, which is a very physical technology, there the imagination of how to be safe is much easier compared to the imagination of how to keep AI safe... that is why it is a very complex thing," he said..The Minister further said that the Government is working with the industry to find the right way of regulating, the right way of keeping AI safe, and the right way of keeping citizens safe in the online world..The Minister's comments assume significance as the relentless march of Artificial Intelligence has triggered a global debate over how to harness its economic and societal benefits while containing risks ranging from deepfakes, misinformation and fraud to privacy breaches, bias and potential misuse of increasingly powerful AI systems..Google unveils Gemini 3.8 Live and 3.8 Live Thinking AI models .The concerns have intensified after researchers and safety experts at leading AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, recently went public with stark warnings about the potential risks from increasingly powerful AI systems, with some raising the spectre of catastrophic consequences for humanity..Governments across the world, major technology companies, researchers and scientists are now grappling with regulatory and safety frameworks that protect users without stifling innovation.