Artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and the law: India’s judicial moment

As India prepares for the India AI Impact Summit 2026, artificial intelligence has moved decisively from the realm of innovation to that of adjudication. Courts, regulators and lawmakers are now confronted with a fundamental question: how does the law respond when reality itself can be algorithmically fabricated? The rise of deepfakes, synthetic media and AI-generated content has introduced unprecedented legal complexity, challenging long-settled principles of evidence, liability, free speech and judicial truth-finding.