A Turning Point in AI Governance: India Challenges Big Tech With Royalty Mandate Proposal
India’s proposal mandating royalties for AI training marks a critical turning point in the future of artificial intelligence governance.
For decades, AI developers have trained models on vast amounts of public content — news, books, artwork, social media posts — without sharing revenue with the original creators.
But India argues this approach is no longer sustainable.
The proposed system would centralize royalty payments, eliminate the need for opt-out mechanisms, and establish a fund from which creators may claim compensation if their intellectual property was used.
The proposal also comes amid rising legal challenges. OpenAI, for example, is currently battling a case involving ANI, an Indian news agency accusing the company of unauthorized use of its copyrighted material.
India’s model contrasts sharply with other major jurisdictions.
While the U.S. continues defending permissive fair-use interpretations, the EU leans toward stronger creator rights, and Japan opens the doors to broad data access.
This makes India a potential trendsetter — the first major democracy attempting to balance innovation with equitable compensation.
Technology advocates warn of slowed development and increased operational costs, but supporters argue that AI innovation cannot come at the expense of human creators.
The next 30 days of public consultation will determine whether India’s proposal becomes a new global standard or a high-profile policy experiment.