New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): Private university Galgotias on Wednesday issued an apology after a controversy erupted over the display of a Chinese-made robotic dog that was incorrectly presented as an in-house innovation during the India AI Impact Summit.
The issue surfaced after a university representative told DD News that the robotic dog, named Orion, had been developed by the Centre of Excellence at Galgotias University. The video quickly went viral on social media.
Users soon pointed out that the robot was actually the Unitree Go2, a commercially available robotic dog manufactured by China-based Unitree Robotics and widely used globally for research, education and industrial applications.
Following the backlash, summit organisers asked the university to vacate its exhibition stall.
In a statement, a university spokesperson clarified that the incident resulted from misinformation by a staff member.
“We wish to apologise for the confusion created at the recent AI summit. One of our representatives manning the pavilion was ill-informed,” the spokesperson said.
The university added that the individual was unaware of the product’s technical origin and spoke to the media without authorisation. The spokesperson emphasised that there was no institutional intent to misrepresent the product.
“She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and, in her enthusiasm for being on camera, gave factually incorrect information,” the statement noted.
Reacting to the incident, IT Secretary S. Krishnan said the government does not want exhibitors to showcase technologies that are not their own.
“We do not want such exhibits to continue,” he said, confirming that the organisers had asked the university to remove its display.
The episode has sparked wider discussion online about transparency and originality in technology exhibitions.
