A hold on AI: on the Preliminary Report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI

Statement 1 is Incorrect: The Summit's intellectual framework and core philosophy were anchored in three foundational principles (Sutras): People, Planet, and Progress, not People, Planning, and Progress. Statement 2 is Incorrect: The New Delhi Declaration introduced the Charter for Democratic Diffusion of AI to promote affordable access to foundational AI resources, support local innovation, and build resilient AI ecosystems. However, it was established as a voluntary and non-binding framework, respecting national laws, rather than a binding treaty. Statement 3 is Correct: The New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact was structured around seven thematic pillars of action, officially referred to as Chakras. These foundational areas included Access for Social Empowerment, AI for Science, and Secure and Trusted AI, alongside Democratizing AI Resources, Economic Growth & Social Good, Human Capital Development, and Resilient, Efficient & Innovative AI Systems. Therefore, option D is the correct answer.

Option A is correctly matched: The Union Cabinet approved the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility by CG Power and Industrial Solutions (in partnership with Renesas Electronics and STARS Microelectronics) to be set up in Sanand, Gujarat. Option B is correctly matched: Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt. Ltd. (TSAT) is establishing a greenfield semiconductor assembly and test facility in Jagiroad, Assam. It marks a major industrial investment in Northeast India. Option C is incorrectly matched: The OSAT facility by the HCL-Foxconn Joint Venture (India Chip Pvt. Ltd.) is being established in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh (in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority region), not Madhya Pradesh. It will manufacture display driver chips. Option D is correctly matched: SicSem Pvt. Ltd. is setting up a Silicon Carbide (SiC) semiconductor manufacturing plant in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. It is designed to be India's first commercial compound semiconductor fab. Therefore, Option C is the correct answer.

✅ Statement I: Correct
*India co-chaired the AI Action Summit in Paris (Feb 2025), continuing efforts from the Bletchley Park (UK, 2023) and Seoul (South Korea, 2024) Summits on AI governance.* ❌ Statement II: Incorrect
*The joint statement on ‘Inclusive and Sustainable AI’ was signed by 58 countries including India and China, but the US and UK did not sign due to concerns about overregulation.* Correct Answer: Only Statement I is correct.

Relationship 1 is Correct: Statement I outlines the core objective of the Sagarmala Programme, launched in 2015, which is port-led economic development through cost-effective and sustainable coastal infrastructure. Statement II provides empirical evidence of its success, such as the 118% growth in coastal shipping, a 700% surge in inland waterway cargo movement, and improved global port rankings (with nine Indian ports now in the global top 100). Thus, the tangible achievements in Statement II directly validate the effectiveness of the foundational strategies mentioned in Statement I. Relationship 2 is Correct: Statement III highlights the goals of Sagarmala 2.0, which focuses on smart ports, green shipping, and positioning India as a global maritime innovation hub aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 and Atmanirbhar Bharat visions. This acts as an evolutionary extension of the foundational infrastructure goals in Statement I, embedding them into a broader, future-oriented innovation framework rather than replacing them. Relationship 3 is Incorrect: Statement I does not contradict Statement III. The initial focus on traditional and sustainable coastal infrastructure in the original Sagarmala Programme serves as the necessary physical base upon which the modern innovation and technology-driven goals of Sagarmala 2.0 are built. The two phases are complementary and represent a progressive policy evolution, not a contradiction. Therefore, relationships 1 and 2 are correct, making Option B the correct choice.

Statement 1 is Correct: The National Quantum Mission (NQM) aims to develop intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50 to 1000 physical qubits within 8 years. Specifically, it targets 50–100 physical qubits in 5 years and scales up to 50–1000 physical qubits in 8 years using platforms like superconducting and photonic technology. Statement 2 is Correct: The implementation of the mission explicitly includes the establishment of four Thematic Hubs (T-Hubs) in top academic and national R&D institutes across India. These hubs focus on distinct technology verticals: Quantum Computing (led by IISc Bengaluru), Quantum Communication (led by IIT Madras), Quantum Sensing & Metrology (led by IIT Bombay), and Quantum Materials & Devices (led by IIT Delhi). Therefore, both statements are correct.

Statement 1 is Correct: At their core, Large Language Models (LLMs) function by analyzing input context and calculating a statistical probability distribution for the next possible words (tokens) in a sequence. In their most basic form of text generation (known as "greedy decoding"), they pick the word with the absolute highest probability. While standard applications often introduce controlled randomness (stochastic sampling like *top-k* or *temperature scaling*) to make text more creative, the foundational mechanism relies on assigning probabilities to select the next word. Statement 2 is Correct: LLM training relies heavily on mathematical optimization. Algorithms such as Stochastic Gradient Descent and backpropagation are used to iteratively adjust billions of model parameters. The explicit goal of this process is to minimize a "loss function," which mathematically represents the model's prediction errors compared to the actual training data. Statement 3 is Incorrect: LLMs do not produce inherently unbiased outputs. Because they learn from massive, human-generated datasets scraped from the internet, they are well-documented to inherit, reflect, and sometimes amplify historical and societal biases (e.g., gender, racial, or cultural stereotypes) present in their training data. Therefore, the correct option is B.

Statement 1 is Correct: DHRUV64 is the third chip to be fabricated under the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) Programme. The first chip was THEJAS32 and the second was THEJAS64. The DIR-V programme aims to create a complete portfolio of future-ready, indigenous RISC-V-based microprocessors to reduce India's dependence on imported chips and foreign intellectual property. Statement 2 is Correct: Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), DHRUV64 is officially recognized as India's first homegrown 1.0 GHz, 64-bit dual-core microprocessor. It is built on the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture, which eliminates proprietary licensing fees and ensures technological sovereignty. Therefore, both statements are correct.

* AI is now being used to analyze industrial data, optimize processes, and predict energy usage patterns. This allows for targeted interventions to reduce overall consumption. * AI can now generate more creative and coherent text formats compared to 2020. While still under development, some AI-generated content can be quite engaging, blurring the lines between human and machine creation. * AI has become a powerful tool in medical diagnosis. AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of medical data, identify complex patterns, and assist healthcare professionals in diagnosis and treatment planning. * Text-to-speech conversion using AI continues to be a well-established technology. AI can now generate natural-sounding speech with various accents and emotions, making it a valuable tool for various applications. * While significant wireless transmission of electricity over long distances remains a challenge, there has been progress in short-range wireless charging and localized energy transfer using AI-powered systems. Note: From the current status of AI development, all the listed applications of AI are feasible. However, this question was asked by the UPSC in 2020 when Generative AI was yet to become mainstream. UPSC's official answer key gave 'B' as the correct answer.

* Statement 1 is not correct: The formation of India’s own internet companies, similar to China’s approach, is not an aim of the Digital India programme. The initiative focuses on creating digital infrastructure, providing digital services, and promoting digital literacy — not establishing government-backed internet firms. * Statement 2 is not correct: The Digital India plan does not include any policy framework to attract foreign multinational corporations to build data centres in India. While data localisation and data centre policies have emerged later under different frameworks, they are not part of the original Digital India objectives. * Statement 3 is correct: One of the key aims of Digital India is to connect villages through broadband and to provide Wi-Fi access in schools, public places, and tourist centres. This is part of its core pillars like Broadband Highways, Public Internet Access Programme, and Early Harvest Programmes.

In India, section 70-B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (the IT Act) gives the Central Government the power to appoint an agency of the government to be called the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. Further, it is legally mandatory for service providers, data centres and body corporates to report on cybersecurity incidents as outlined in the Information Technology (The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team and Manner of Performing Functions and Duties) Rules, 2013, which were notified under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The article explicitly states two fault lines: 'the Global South-Global North divide, with the latter poised to take the lion’s share of the benefits of the diffusion of advanced AI models in different industries; and the challenge poorer countries face in regulating models far more advanced than what their own AI ecosystems can develop.' Options 3 and 4, while potential issues, are not identified as the 'critical fault lines' in the provided text.

The article lists all four points as harms caused by irresponsible AI firms: 'AI models have ensnared teenagers and adults in parasocial fantasies... they have flattened the world wide web, grievously injuring the news media’s ability to deploy resources... they have unleashed an epidemic of deepfakes... and they have deeply intertwined their promises of Artificial General Intelligence with global financial systems, with possible catastrophic economic consequences.'

The article states: 'what makes a country a voice that matters in AI: abundant electricity, highly capitalised firms that employ scarce talent with high salaries, and a drive to plow through policy resistance with a competitive zeal to outdo last month’s capabilities.' Option 4 is not mentioned in this context.