India floats AI plan under which ‘The model travels to the data, rather than the data travelling to the model’

Wants more local AI, without Big Tech getting open access to everything

As debate and legal argument continue over the extent to which developers of large language models are entitled to feed the world’s data into their systems without paying for it, India’s government has come up with an idea to regulate and secure the flow of information.

India’s motive is to create AI models trained on local data, because it thinks offshore model-makers won’t be motivated to address the nation’s issues or to ensure owners of data stay in control.

The scheme India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) thinks can make that happen is called the “Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) for AI Training.”

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As described by Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, DEPA means “the model travels to the data, rather than the data travelling to the model.”

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The scheme envisions “Training Data Providers” (TDPs) – examples of which include hospitals, banks, and government agencies – sharing anonymized and encrypted data with a “Data Exchange Platform” (DEP).

Entities called “Training Data Consumers” (TDCs) access the data stored at the DEPs to train their models.

DEPs will operate what MeitY calls “hardware-based Secure Data Environments” in which “data remains encrypted and isolated even during processing.” They also enforce rules set by TDPs that describe how TDCs can use data.

MeitY’s DEPA framework [PDF] says this scheme means “Differential privacy techniques are systematically applied to prevent the model from learning or revealing individual specific information,” adding “All activities inside the secure data environments are immutably logged for audit purposes, ensuring that the process is both secure and transparent.”

India’s government already operates several data exchanges, but it is unclear how much work remains to make DEPA a reality.

Once DEPA is working, MeitY envisions model-makers will use it to do things like “unlock currently fragmented health data to power breakthroughs in AI-driven diagnostics, drug discovery, and public health management.”

The optimism extends to financial services. India is home to literally thousands of banks, and MeitY thinks “DEPA can enable secure sharing of diverse financial data, potentially extending formal credit to 400 million underserved individuals and MSMEs and fueling next-generation fintech innovation.”

India’s government has long believed that if financial services companies can lend to more people, it will boost economic development.

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“Similarly, in Education, DEPA can overcome data interoperability challenges to enable AI-powered personalized learning for millions and create portable skill credentials essential for a future-ready workforce of its 250 million students in a $29 billion EdTech sector,” the framework states. “The successful adoption of DEPA Training across these domains is the essential catalyst for realizing India’s vision of inclusive growth and responsible AI leadership on the global stage.”

While the purpose of the framework is to build Indian AIs for Indians, the document also has half an eye on the nation’s international standing.

“DEPA is India’s contribution to global science diplomacy, advancing the efforts of institutions such as the World Bank and the United Nations to shape a more inclusive and responsible global AI ecosystem,” the framework states.

It also makes several mentions of digital public infrastructure (DPI), an idea pioneered by India that involves government funding creation of tools like the Unified Payments Interface payment systems and the Bharat Taxi zero-commission ride-sharing platform, to ensure Big Tech companies don’t dominate the local market.

India also uses its DPI as a diplomatic tool, by giving it away to friendly nations. ®