Galgotias University, under fire over Chinese robodog, asked to leave AI Summit

A Noida-based university was removed from the AI Impact Summit after social media backlash over showcasing a Chinese robotic dog as its own. The government acted following national embarrassment, despite the university claiming it was for educational purposes

New Delhi: A Noida-based private university, which found itself in a tight spot over flaunting a Chinese robotic dog as its own at the ongoing AI Impact Summit, has been directed to pack up and leave the expo immediately, top government sources said.

The move comes after a huge social media uproar and backlash over the depiction of a Chinese robotic dog at its pavilion in the Expo.

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The University, in its defence, however, clarified that this was an endeavour to acquaint and equip its students with the latest innovations in Artificial Intelligence, and it never claimed the robot as its own product. Social media users, however, were unrestrained in castigating the University and demanded that it own up to the fiasco and issue an apology for creating national embarrassment.

The issue also found resonance in the Chinese media, as it mocked the Indian university for copying its technological innovations and promoting the Chinese robot as its own.

The controversy broke out after Galgotias University showcased a surveillance robotic dog named “Orion” at the ongoing AI Summit at Bharat Mandapam.

A video of the University representative, explaining the robot’s features during interaction with the media, went viral, only to be fact-checked as it was actually a China-made robodog. In the video clip, the University’s representative told the reporter that the robot was built at its Centre of Excellence.

The social media users were quick to identify that the gadget was an AI-powered Chinese dog, sourced from Unitree Go2, but the university was brazenly passing off this foreign technology as homegrown innovation. As the University found itself at the centre of a storm, it termed the uproar as “negative propaganda” and claimed that it routinely brings technological advancements from around the world to expose its students to cutting-edge innovations, with a focus on building indigenous capabilities.

“The recently acquired robodog from Unitree is one such step in that journey. It is not merely a machine on display; it is a classroom in motion. Our students are experimenting with it, testing its limits and, in the process, expanding their own knowledge. Let us be clear: Galgotias has not built this robodog, nor have we ever claimed to,” the university said in a statement posted on X.

The University’s attempt to damage control over the embarrassing fiasco seems to have done little to soothe the frayed nerves, prompting stern action from the government, as the opposition has already upped the ante over mismanagement and untidy arrangements at the AI expo. An official response from the University is awaited on its ouster from the AI expo.