Having come under fire for touting a robot dog as their own at the ongoing AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi, Galgotias University on Tuesday clarified that it had “not built” the robodog.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the university said, “At Galgotias university our mission has always been clear — to keep our students ahead of the curve in technology, not just for today’s world, but for the world that is unfolding tomorrow.”
Commenting on the controversy, Galgotias University said, “The recently acquired Robodog from Unitree is one such step in that journey. It is not merely a machine on display — it is a classroom in motion. Our students are experimenting with it, testing its limits, and in the process, expanding their own knowledge.”
“Let us be clear — Galgotias has not built this robodog, neither have we claimed. But what we are building are minds that will soon design, engineer, and manufacture such technologies right here in Bharat,” the university added.
Noting that innovation “knows no borders” and that “learning should not either”, the university said that it had consistently brought cutting-edge technologies to its campus — “Why? Because exposure creates vision. And vision creates creators.”
“This is not about importing technology. This is about inspiring transformation. This is about empowering young innovators to dream bigger — and build those dreams in India,” Galgotias University asserted.
What did the viral video show?
The response came days after a video went viral on social media, showing a professor from the university touting a robodog and claiming that the robot, named ‘Orion’, was developed by the Center of Excellence at Galgotias University.
“We are the first private university investing more than ₹350 crore in artificial intelligence (AI), and we have a dedicated data science and AI block on campus,” said the professor, with Hindustan Times reporting that her name was Neha Singh.
The professor also claimed that Orion was capable of carrying out surveillance and monitoring tasks, while freely roaming the university campus.
As the video went viral, netizens quickly jumped on, pointing out that the robot dog was not manufactured by the university, as claimed, but rather by a Chinese company called Unitree.
Specifically, netizens pointed out that the model touted at the AI Impact Summit pavilion was the Unitree Go2.
Netizens not impressed despite clarification
Despite the clarification from Galgotias University, netizens were not impressed.
“Have some shame, in this video ur Professor is clearly saying that it’s developed by Galgotias University (sic),” said a person on X.
“Either you are illiterate yourself or you are trying to pulloff a fraud. Your representative very clearly said that ORION has been developed at the center of excellence at Galgotias university. Who are you trying to hoodwink with this statement? (sic),” wrote another user.
Others, meanwhile, pointed out the irony of displaying a Chinese product at an AI summit hosted by India.
“You should be ashamed, it’s a India’s AI summit and you brought China’s robo dog. You and your professor rebranded it as Orion and showcased in India’s first AI Summit which was seen by whole world (sic),” said a user.
“Meet ORION: Obnoxiously Reckless Innovation Of Neglect. Galgotias tried passing on Go2 Chinese robot as their innovation by changing its name to ORION. Community notes are doing India more service than many in the government (sic),” said another.
