India Has NO AI Laws | Mohit Kapoor, Universal Legal

India has NO specific AI laws - yet companies are racing to build AI products. What happens when something goes wrong?

I sat down with Mohit Kapoor, Partner at Universal Legal (with presence in 65+ countries), to understand the legal vacuum AI founders are operating in.

From emotional AI causing teen suicides to deepfakes destroying reputations, we explore:

Why AI is an "administrator of data," not just an aggregator - and what that means for liability
The California court ruling that "AI is a product, not speech" - and how India would handle similar cases
Why India's suicide laws make it nearly impossible to prosecute AI-driven harm
The dangerous 10-15 year regulatory lag India typically has - and why AI won't get that luxury
Character.AI lawsuits and why similar cases would struggle in Indian courts
What founders MUST do differently when building AI products (corporate structure matters!)

Key Insight: India won't pass one comprehensive AI Act. Instead, expect patchwork amendments to existing laws (IT Act, IPC/BNS, Copyright) as problems emerge - creating compliance nightmares for founders.

Mohit reveals that AI legal queries are flooding in "across the board" - from chatbot optimization to risk mitigation - but India's legal framework is at least 2-5 years behind the technology.

ABOUT MOHIT KAPOOR
Partner at Universal Legal with 20+ years experience, dual-qualified (UK & India), advising companies across 65 countries on tech law, data privacy, IP, and AI compliance.
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Connect and Explore:
• Web: https://kalyanikhona.com/
• X: https://x.com/thisismekalyani
• Linkedin:   / kalyanikhona  
• The Third Frontier: https://thirdfrontier.substack.com/
• Lab Notes:   / 7364150572851060738  
• Behind India's ChatGPT conversations: https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.13337

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