Chinese-made robodog displayed at AI Summit | Galgotias University asked to vacate expo premises

Galgotias University, which was under fire for displaying a Chinese-made robodog as their own at the AI Impact Summit, has been asked to vacate the Expo area at the summit, government sources said on Wednesday.

The backlash began when a video from the event went viral, showing a university representative describing a robot named “Orion”. Online commentators quickly pointed out that the machine closely resembled the Go2 model produced by Unitree, which is available to purchase for around Rs 2–3 lakh. Many users accused the university of rebranding imported tech as a homegrown creation.

In a statement posted on X, the university insisted it had never claimed to have built the robotic dog. It said the device had been procured from the Chinese firm and was being used as an instructional tool to help students explore robotics and artificial intelligence.

“The recently acquired robodog from Unitree is part of our commitment to providing students with the best learning resources. It is a means for experimentation, not a showcase of our own engineering. At no point have we stated otherwise,” the statement said. The university described the robot as “a classroom in motion”, designed to help students test boundaries and expand their understanding of emerging technologies.

However, the clarification was soon challenged. An X Community Note attached to the post claimed the university’s assertion was misleading, stating that the institution had indeed presented the robot as its own by naming it “Orion” and referring to it as developed by its team during the summit.

The controversy was fuelled by the viral video in which a woman, introduced as part of the university’s Centre of Excellence, explained the robot’s features and claimed that “Orion” had been developed internally. Critics argued that this amounted to misrepresenting imported hardware as indigenous work.