Galgotias University officials were instructed to vacate the India AI Impact Summit on Wednesday, following a row over the institution presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog as its own innovation. However, representatives of the Noida-based university claimed they had not received an official order in this regard.
"We have not been informed yet that we have to vacate," a professor from Galgotias said. The controversy stems from a massive backlash on social media regarding attempts to pass off a Chinese product as indigenous technology.
Additionally, the government has faced criticism from the Opposition for allowing Chinese products to be showcased at the Summit.
The fiasco began when the university showcased a surveillance robotic dog named "Orion" at the event in Delhi. A viral video captured university professor Neha Singh presenting the dog, claiming it was developed under the university's ₹350 crore AI initiative, and was capable of autonomous surveillance on campus.
It was soon made clear, however, that the robot was a Unitree Go2, a commercially available robot produced in China.
As the scandal continued to unfold, the university released a statement claiming that they had never said they built the dog and that it was simply a teaching tool. "Let us be clear - Galgotias has not built this robodog, nor have we claimed... Our students are experimenting with it," the statement read.
This explanation was quickly disputed by a note on X (formerly Twitter) that pointed out that the robot was described as being developed by the university during their presentation. "A university showcases Chinese robot Unitree Go2 and called it as its own innovation," a China-related account had tweeted.
Professor Neha Singh, who became the face of the controversy, attempted to address the media on Wednesday, "I take accountability, as perhaps I did not communicate it properly... One important point regarding the robot dog... We cannot claim that we manufactured it."
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