South Africa withdraws AI policy
The government has pulled its draft AI policy after identifying unverified references that appear to have been generated by AI tools.
South Africa has withdrawn its draft national AI policy after officials found that some of the cited sources were not real, raising concerns about the document’s reliability. The development was first reported by Reuters.
Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi said the references appear to have been generated using artificial intelligence and included without proper verification. He described the issue as affecting the credibility of the policy rather than being a minor technical error.
The draft, released earlier in April for public consultation, outlined plans to establish new institutions, including an AI commission, an ethics board, and a regulatory authority. It also proposed incentives such as tax breaks and grants to support AI development.
The withdrawal means the consultation process will not proceed as planned. The government has not yet indicated when a revised version will be published.
