In an embarrassing turn of events at the prestigious India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Galgotias University was asked to vacate its exhibition stall on Tuesday following a controversy over the misrepresentation of a robotic dog.
The Greater Noida-based private university faced swift disciplinary action after social media users exposed that a robot, which institution representatives claimed as an in-house innovation, was actually a commercially available Chinese product.
Trouble began for the university when a video from the expo floor went viral on social media. In the clip, a woman identified as a university representative is seen demonstrating a sleek robotic dog named "Orion" during a media interaction. She described the machine’s advanced features and explicitly stated that it had been developed by the university’s Centre of Excellence.
Another video that circulated widely showed a professor from the university making a similar assertion, telling a reporter that the quadruped robot was built at their research facility.
However, eagle-eyed netizens were quick to spot the discrepancy. The robot on display was not an indigenous innovation but the Unitree Go2, a commercially available model manufactured by the renowned Chinese robotics firm, Unitree Robotics. The device is readily available for purchase online in India, with prices typically ranging between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh.
The revelation that a foreign, off-the-shelf product was being presented as a homegrown development from an Indian university’s Centre of Excellence sparked widespread criticism online.
Following the backlash and the exposure of the claim, the event organizers took immediate action. Sources confirmed that Galgotias University was asked to vacate its stall at the expo area of the India AI Impact Summit.
The incident has cast a shadow over the university's participation in the summit, which is intended to showcase India's advancements in artificial intelligence and technology. As of now, the university has not issued an official statement regarding the controversy or the misrepresentation of the robotic dog. The stall, which was meant to highlight innovation, stood empty for the remainder of the event.
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