Nirmala Sitharaman expresses concern over AI misuse, flags deepfake videos that mislead citizens

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday expressed concern over the growing misuse of artificial intelligence and revealed that she has come across several deepfake videos of her circulating online to mislead common people.

“I am not personalising it but I can say I have seen several deepfake videos of myself being circulated online, manipulated to mislead citizens," Sitharaman said at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai.  

The Finance Minister called for collaboration among fintech innovators, investors and regulators to build a secure, inclusive and resilient tech system. “Every part of the ecosystem—regulators, fintechs, startups, and citizens—must act with shared purpose and mutual trust,” she urged,

“Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence is transforming finance, transforming governance and also everyday life. But as we harness its powers, we must remain conscious that technology must always serve humanity. Even as AI opens extraordinary possibilities, we must confront its darker side,” she said.

“Every part of the ecosystem—regulators, fintechs, startups, and citizens—must act with shared purpose and mutual trust,” she added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Keir Starmer are scheduled to speak at the event on Thursday, which has been dubbed at the world’s largest financial technology event. It has been organised jointly by the Payments Council of India (PCI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC).

On the first day of the three-day event, Sitharaman launched the foreign currency settlement system in Gujarat’s GIFT City. The initiative aims to boost international trade, attract investments, and improve ease of doing business by enabling real-time settlement of foreign currency transactions.

With the launch of the foreign currency settlement system (FCSS) India has joined a select group of global financial hubs such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Manila that have local foreign currency settlement infrastructure.

The system will initially process transactions in US dollars. Settlement in other currencies will be enabled later. Standard Chartered Bank has been selected as the settlement bank.