You remember that old saying that “if something is available for free, you’re the product”? In the age of AI, even if you’re paying for something, you’re still the product. A few weeks ago, I…
Posts Published by nikhilpahwa
The balance of power between users, platforms and the government needs a reset
A perfect storm is brewing in the world of Internet platforms: in the last 10 days, Pavel Durov, the founder of messaging app Telegram has been arrested in France; in Brazil, a Judge has threatened…
A response to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s comments on Ecommerce as a problem in India
I remember clearly the day I told Amitabh Kant about my preference for bright coloured socks: It was late in the evening at Udyog Bhawan on May 15, 2014, a day before Narendra Modi’s BJP…
Statement on the withdrawal of the draft Broadcast Bill in India
The withdrawal of this secretive draft of India’s Broadcast Bill is welcome, but it shouldn’t have existed anyway. We need more transparency and accountability from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which has held private…
Outdated mindset driving India’s Broadcast Bill needs an update
26 year old Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr. Beast, runs the world’s most subscribed YouTube channel with 307 million subscribers. Known for generosity and stunts, he has spent 24 hours in an ice house, given away…
On Koo, failures and successes in India’s startup ecosystem
The shuttering of Koo, a microblogging website similar to Twitter (now X), has rekindled discussions about why India doesn’t have its own Google, Facebook, or WhatsApp, and whether a protectionist approach is necessary to build…
About offensive AI outputs
So, #ShameOnMetaAI was trending on Twitter because MetaAI was used to generate jokes on Hindu gods including Lord Ram & Lord Vishnu. Some tweets say it declined to crack jokes on Prophet Mohammed, but others…
Research Paper: On Tiktok and India’s Tech Emancipation from China
I wrote this paper for the Friedrich Naumann Foundation on the steps that India has taken for its technology decoupling from China, covering changes in the regulation of investments, telecommunications, ecommerce, handsets, as well as…
On Perplexity and the challenge it poses for Digital Media
Perplexity is a fascinating AI application that I sometimes use to read the news, but it has me worried for a while now. It takes a Wikipedia-like approach to compilation of news and information: it…
Open Source vs Proprietary AI
At a discussion we held in June last year, someone threw the cat among the pigeons by saying that Open Sourcing AI is like giving everyone a nuclear bomb. It’s not a point of view…