IIT Madras’ Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI) in the Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (WSAI) is working towards a global AI ecosystem where safety, reliability, and trustworthiness are embedded, enabling innovation that people and societies can trust.

Towards this vision, CeRAI is hosting a two-day Conclave on ‘Safe and Trusted AI’ on 10th and 11th December 2025, bringing together senior leaders from the government, industry, academia, civil society and global AI institutions to advance discussions on AI safety and governance for the Global South.

The deliberations focused on advanced ‘AI Safety Commons’ (open, shared, collaborative ecosystem of resources) and pathways to recommend AI governance guidelines.

The Conclave was inaugurated on 10th December 2025 by Dr. T.R.B. Rajaa, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, Investment Promotions and Commerce, Government of Tamil Nadu in the presence of Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Prof. Balaraman Ravindran, Head, WSAI, IIT Madras, and other stakeholders.

Addressing the Conclave, Chief Guest Dr. T.R.B. Rajaa, Hon. Minister for Industries, Investment Promotions and Commerce, Government of Tamil Nadu, said, “We have to discuss the policy interventions for us to ensure good AI systems for our people. I am sure this working group will add great value to the main summit. Tamil Nadu’s vision is to become AI-first.”

Dr. T.R.B. Rajaa added, “We really want to work on the ethical AI policy as the government, which we have already rolled out, but it needs more value to it. Technology only becomes powerful and ethical, when it benefits everyone. When it excludes anyone, it does not have its power explored.”

Highlighting the need for such conferences, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “AI has reached a stage where it is becoming more and more pervasive into everyone's life. And we are tasking the AI to help in many of the intricate activities, including suggestions for health, suggestions for education. Lot of co-pilots are already there. Before we even define the word ‘co-pilot’, people have been using AI for making lot more decisions.”

Prof. V. Kamakoti added, “So AI is going to have not only an impact on the economy, but also on day-to-day life, day-to-day crucial part of life. And I think this is the point where out of the several verticals that were assigned for the AI Impact Summit, safe and trusted AI becomes extremely crucial. And I am very happy and thank to MeitY for making my colleague, Prof. B. Ravindran as a co-chair of this very important event, and also for choosing IIT Madras, Tamil Nadu.”

Prof. Sriraam Natarajan, University of Texas at Dallas, delivered the Scientific Keynote Address.

Shri Mohammad Y Safirulla, Director, IndiaAI Mission, MeitY, said, “As we move toward the India AI Impact Summit 2026, it is important to recognise that this initiative has been designed with a clear and people-centric purpose. Each of the seven working groups brings together experts from 112 countries and international organisations, making this one of the most globally representative efforts on AI governance. The Safe & Trusted AI Working Group’s discussions here in Chennai and the upcoming consultations across India will feed directly into actionable, globally relevant outcomes for the Leaders’ Declaration.”

Over two days, the Conclave built on global momentum shaped by the UK AI Safety Summit, AI Seoul Summit, France AI Action Summit and the Global AI Summit on Africa. The closed-door discussions with the Working Group on Day Two of the Conclave formed part of the preparatory activities for the India AI Impact Summit 2026, which will be the first-ever global AI summit to be hosted in the Global South.

Sessions across both days highlighted the increasing frequency of AI safety incidents worldwide and the urgent need to translate responsible AI principles into operational, contextually grounded mechanisms. The Working Group chaired by Prof. B. Ravindran aims to strengthen global capacity, foster inclusion and develop interoperable governance approaches that embed trustworthiness, reliability and safety into AI systems.

Addressing Day Two of the Conclave, Prof. Balaraman Ravindran, who is also Chair, Safe and Trusted AI Working Group for the India AI Impact Summit 2026, said, “Through the Safe and Trusted AI Working Group, we encourage inclusive collaborations and are committed to building equitable access to AI safety resources. As a Working Group, our aim is to recommend governance guidelines that enable innovation while safeguarding societal well-being. Our two-day Conclave on Safe and Trusted AI marks an important step in this journey, further strengthening our efforts to not only uphold the principles of Responsible AI but also translate them into practice.”

Day Two of the Conclave had a Keynote Address (Virtual) by Peter Mattson, Founder President of ML Commons. The Conclave also had two key panel discussions shaped the Day Two deliberations - ‘Significance of developing AI Safety Commons for the Global South’ and ‘Discovering models and roadmaps for operationalising AI Governance Guidelines – A Global South Perspective’. The experts explored how an open, shared ecosystem—comprising datasets, tools, benchmarks, best practices and governance protocols—could significantly advance safe AI development across the region.

The insights generated over the two-day deliberations are expected to inform the Safe and Trusted AI Working Group’s contributions to the India AI Impact Summit 2026 and strengthen India’s leadership in shaping trusted, responsible and future-ready AI systems.