India weighs tough AI copyright licensing in new policy debate

India’s emerging stance on AI copyright is crucial because it sits at the intersection of three big forces: a booming domestic tech ecosystem, huge pools of creators, and a state that’s comfortable with muscular digital regulation. A mandatory blanket licensing regime for training data would be one of the most interventionist proposals anywhere, and could become a template for other large markets if it appears to work. For global model builders, that would mean a future where training on Indian content carries explicit levies and reporting obligations.

For the race to AGI, the impact is ambiguous. On one hand, predictable licensing could de-risk large-scale training and push well-capitalized firms to formalize their use of copyrighted data. On the other hand, high transaction costs would weigh most heavily on Indian startups and open-source projects, potentially slowing down the diversity of local experimentation. If India succeeds in crafting a “light but credible” framework that distinguishes between training and reproduction and ties levies to commercial deployment, it could show that strong creator protection and rapid AI adoption aren’t mutually exclusive.