An Indian university has been asked to vacate its exhibition space at the country’s flagship artificial intelligence summit after a staff member was seen presenting a commercially available robotic dog made in China as the institution’s own creation, according to government sources.
Galgotias University was instructed to leave the expo area of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi following the controversy.
In a video interview aired by state broadcaster Doordarshan, communications professor Neha Singh introduced the robotic dog, saying: “You need to meet Orion. This has been developed by the Center of Excellence at Galgotias University.” The clip quickly went viral online.
Social media users later identified the robot as the Unitree Go2, a quadruped robot produced by Unitree Robotics and widely used in research and education worldwide. The device retails for about $2,800.
The incident has sparked criticism online and drawn attention to India’s ambitions in artificial intelligence. The controversy intensified after IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared the video on his official social media account before later deleting the post.
Both the university and Singh later clarified that the robot was not developed by the institution and said the university had not intended to claim ownership.
As of Wednesday morning, the stall remained open to visitors, with university representatives responding to media questions about allegations of misrepresentation. A booth official said the university had not received formal communication ordering its removal from the event.
The summit, being held at Bharat Mandapam through Saturday, has been billed as a major AI gathering hosted in the Global South. Speakers scheduled to address the conference include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sundar Pichai of Google, Sam Altman of OpenAI, and Dario Amodei of Anthropic.
The event has also faced logistical challenges, with delegates reporting overcrowding and organisational difficulties. Despite this, more than $100 billion in AI-related investment pledges have been announced, including commitments from the Adani Group, Microsoft, and data centre firm Yotta Infrastructure.
India’s main opposition party, Indian National Congress, criticised the incident on social media, saying it had made the country appear “a laughing stock globally” in the field of artificial intelligence.
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