A Chinese-manufactured robotic dog displayed at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi has sparked an online backlash after a viral video alleged that it was presented as an indigenous innovation.
The robot — identified by users as the Unitree Go2 built by Unitree Robotics — is a commercially available AI-powered quadruped priced at roughly Rs 2–3 lakh. In clips circulating on X, a woman at the summit is heard describing a robotic dog named “Orion” as having been developed by the institution’s Centre of Excellence, prompting accusations that imported technology was being passed off as homegrown.
Galgotias university issues statement
Following the backlash, the Greater Noida-based university issued a statement denying that it had claimed to have built the robot. It said the robodog had been procured from Unitree and was being used as a teaching and research tool.
“The recently acquired robodog from Unitree is one such step in that journey… Let us be clear: we have not built this robodog, nor have we ever claimed to,” the statement said, adding that the device was meant to give students hands-on exposure to advanced robotics systems.
However, the clarification itself drew scrutiny. An X community note appended to the university’s post said the claim of not presenting the robot as its own was “incorrect and misleading”, arguing that the device had been named “Orion” and explicitly described as developed by the university team during a media interaction.
Debate on transparency
The episode quickly widened into a larger debate about transparency in academic showcases, especially at a summit focused on India’s artificial intelligence ambitions.
Critics said that branding a commercially available Chinese robot under a new name without clearly stating its origin risked misleading audiences about the extent of indigenous development.
In its defence, the university said innovation and learning should not be bound by geography and that it routinely sources cutting-edge technologies from countries including the US, China and Singapore to keep students ahead of the curve.
It maintained that the initiative was about exposure and experimentation, not claiming ownership of foreign-built hardware.
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