Can AI be sued? India says no, but the law is catching up

The rise of generative AI has introduced an unsettling question to Indian courts: when an AI system produces defamatory, misleading, or harmful content, who is legally responsible? Is it the developer who built the model, the organization that deployed it, the platform that hosted it, or as some futurists suggest, the AI itself? The implications are not just theoretical. In an age where AI tools can summarize news, generate reviews, or even simulate public figures’ speech, the line between transmission and publication blurs. Yajas Setlur, Partner at JSA, agrees. “Indian law draws a clear line between passive hosting and active curation by distinguishing intermediaries from publishers. If a platform merely transmits third-party or AI-generated content, it may be considered an intermediary. But once it actively curates or promotes that content, it could be treated as a publisher and held to a higher standard of accountability.” Read Article