- Power was cut at Galgotias University stall after display of Chinese robotic dog at summit
- The robotic dog shown was the Unitree Go2, sold in India for Rs 2-3 lakh
- Galgotias claimed it never built the robot but uses it to teach students advanced tech
The power was reportedly cut off at the Galgotias University stall at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, minutes after they were asked to vacate the expo area over the display of a Chinese robotic dog.
A video by the news agency PTI shows many members of the Galgotias University standing in the dark at their pavilion.
The Noida-based private university faced immediate action after a viral video from the event showed its representatives presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog as a product developed by the university's Centre of Excellence. The robot in question is the Unitree Go2, a commercially available model from the Chinese robotics company Unitree that is sold online in India for between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh. The Galgotias University, however, referred to the surveillance robotic dog as "Orion" at the summit.
Amid a huge social media uproar, the university, in its defence, clarified 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 university also insisted it had never claimed to have built the device, despite its staff claiming on camera that it did.
"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. Let us be clear - Galgotias has not built this robodog, neither have we claimed. But what we are building are minds that will soon design, engineer, and manufacture such technologies right here in Bharat," it said in a post on X.
In another statement, the Galgotias called the online criticism a part of a "propaganda campaign".
The university's communications professor, Neha - who had featured in the video - told the media that "by one misinterpretation, the internet has gone by the storm".
"It might be that I could not convey well what I had wanted to say, or you could not understand well what I wanted to say. I am a faculty member in communications at the School of Management, not in AI. Only you (the media) have heard what the government has said. As far as I know, we are here at the expo. As a university, we are standing tall. The robot was brought here only for projection," she said.
