The government on Wednesday asked Galgotias University to vacate its stall at the India AI Impact Summit after a staff member was caught presenting a China-made robotic dog as an in-house innovation.
The damage-control exercise was undertaken as the weeklong event entered its critical phase with a series of heads of state/government arriving in the capital to participate in the summit and expo.
The controversy had begun brewing on Tuesday evening when Internet users began fact-checking Professor Neha Singh of Greater Noida’s Galgotias University after she introduced a robotic dog named Orion, claiming it had been developed by her varsity’s Centre of Excellence.
The displayed robot is manufactured by China’s Unitree Robotics and is available commercially. The Chinese media also reported that the robot had been manufactured in that country.
With the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, also weighing in on Wednesday morning, the controversy refused to die down and by noon, many in the government began saying unofficially that the university had been asked to leave the summit.
Later, responding to media queries, the secretary in the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), S. Krishnan, said: “Exhibitors must not display items that are not theirs. We don’t want any controversy at the summit. Such incidents should not overshadow the excellent work done by others.”
Following his statement, the power supply to the university’s pavilion was cut off. A few minutes later, the university vacated the premises. The varsity had initially sought to project the controversy as a “propaganda campaign” in a statement issued well past midnight on Tuesday.
However, when it was pointed out that Prof. Singh had claimed on camera that the robot was built by the Galgotias Centre of Excellence team, the university on Wednesday evening apologised for the “confusion” created at the summit, stating that “one of our representatives manning the pavilion was ill-informed”.
Maintaining that there was no “institutional intent” to misrepresent, the university further said its representative was “not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm to be on camera, gave factually incorrect information even though she was not authorised to speak to the press”.
Some social media users posted a screenshot of IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s X account featuring a similar robot dog, which was later deleted.
Professor Dr. Neha Singh of Galgotias University speaks to PTI amid a controversy over the display of a robotic dog that raised questions about the origin and ownership of the technology showcased at the AI Summit Expo, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. PTI
The PIB Fact Check unit, picking on a social media post that said even Vaishnaw had claimed that the Chinese robot presented by Galgotias University was of Indian origin, said: “The claim is false. The Union Minister has nowhere stated that the robot presented by Galgotias University is an Indian robot.”
While the minister did not specifically make the claim, the text attached to the video that he posted said: “Bharat’s sovereign models are performing well on global benchmarks.” The video included a robot that looked similar to Orion, providing the Opposition enough ammunition to go after Vaishnaw also.
“Instead of leveraging India’s talent and data, the AI summit is a disorganised PR spectacle — Indian data up for sale, Chinese products showcased,” Rahul said in an X post.
The Congress chipped in with a separate post: “The Modi government has made a laughing stock of India globally, with regard to AI. In the ongoing AI summit, Chinese robots are being displayed as our own. The Chinese media has mocked us. This is truly embarrassing for India.
“What is even more shameful is the fact that Modi’s minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is indulging in the same falsehood, promoting China’s robots at the Indian summit. The Modi Government has caused irreparable damage to the image of the country — they have reduced AI to a joke — a field in which we could be world leaders given our data power. Brazenly shameless.”
When the media visited the university stall in the morning, Prof. Singh said the controversy had erupted because she did not communicate properly.
“One important point is 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,” Singh told journalists.
The summit, which opened on Monday with several hiccups, has been extended by a day till Saturday. However, the expo will not be open to the general public on Thursday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to deliver an address and several heads of state and government are expected to be present.