Indian university draws flak at AI Summit for presenting Chinese robot as its own

2026-02-18 - 13:03

NEW DELHI — Controversy broke out at a major artificial intelligence summit in India after a local university allegedly displayed a Chinese-made robotic dog as the institution’s own.A massive backlash on social media over the robodog prompted organizers of the India AI Impact Summit to kick out the Galgotias University, located in Noida, wasfrom the expo.One of the professors was caught falsely claiming they have developed the device at the Galgotias University's center of excellence.But social media users quickly identified the robot as the Unitree Go2, sold by China’s Unitree Robotics for about $2,800 and widely used in research and education globally.“You ⁠need to meet Orion. This has been developed by the Center of Excellence at Galgotias University,” Neha Singh, a professor of communications, had told the state-run DD ⁠News.The episode has drawn sharp criticism and has ‌cast an uncomfortable spotlight on India’s AI ambitions.The embarrassment was amplified by Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who shared the video clip on his official social media account before the backlash.