Galgotias University leaves AI Summit with robot dog's tail between its legs
New Delhi: The internet never forgets and the dog-eat-dog world of social media probably won't let you pass off a Chinese product as a Greater Noida innovation, private university Galgotias found out the hard way on being forced out of the AI Impact Summit on Wednesday.
University representatives showcased a robotic dog named Orion on Tuesday, claiming it was developed by the Centre of Excellence at Galgotias, prompting social media users to highlight that it was a Unitree Go2, manufactured by China’s Unitree Robotics and commonly used in research and education worldwide.
Bitten but not shy, the private university made a dogged attempt to brazen it out with bizarre justifications through Wednesday, such as one person's six could be another's nine, but issued an apology later in the evening after the organisers cut power supply to its stall at the event and asked the occupants to leave.
IT Secretary S Krishnan said the government did not want any exhibitor to showcase items that were not its own. "We do not want such exhibits to continue," he said, after the organisers asked Galgotias to vacate the stall.
In its apology, Galgotias University said the person "manning the pavilion was ill-informed".
"She was not aware of the technical origins of the products and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information even though she was not authorised to speak to the press," the university said.
Stating that there was "no institutional intent to misrepresent this innovation", the university said it remained firmly committed to academic integrity, transparency and responsible representations of its work. It said it vacated the premises "understanding the organiser's sentiment".
Neha Singh, a professor of communications at the university's school of management, showed Orion to DD News on Tuesday, saying that it "has been developed by the Centre of Excellence at Galgotias University". After social media users pointed out that the robot was actually a Unitree Go2, the episode invited widespread ridicule and drew political criticism on Wednesday.
"Instead of leveraging India's talent and data, the AI summit is a disorganised PR spectacle - Indian data up for sale, Chinese products showcased," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.
Amid the backlash, both Galgotias and Singh said the robot was not a university creation and that the institution had never claimed otherwise. "The controversy happened because things may not have been expressed clearly and the intent may not have been properly understood," professor Singh said.
"Your six can be my nine. Maybe what I wanted to say I was not able to say because of the scarcity of time, or the noise around us," she said.
"Regarding the robot dog, we cannot claim that we manufactured it. I have told everyone that we introduced it to our students to inspire them to create something better on their own. Our university contributes to building future leaders by providing cutting-edge technologies in the field of AI, and it will continue to do so."
IT Secretary Krishnan, however, emphasised that the government would not tolerate exhibits misrepresented as original creations.
"If you mislead... we do not want a controversy (and) so we do not want a controversial agency... whom people believe are exhibiting something which is not theirs," he said.
Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said the intention is not to stifle innovation but it should not be misleading. The controversy "should not overshadow the kind of effort that the others have put in", he said.
The statement issued by the Greater Noida-based institution said, "Robotic programming is part of our endeavour to make students learn AI programming and develop and deploy real world skills using globally available tools and resources, given developing AI talent is the need of the hour."
Stating that its faculty and students were "deeply pained by the propaganda campaign" against the institution, the university said its vision is focused on student learning and innovation, and that it provides students access to modern technologies to help them gain practical experience and prepare for the future.
