Galgotias’ robodog row: Blaming, philosophy, clarification, but no apology

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 was meant to project India as a serious contender in the global AI (artificial intelligence) race. Instead, it is fast becoming a symposium on irony.

And at the centre of the storm is a robotic dog.

Displayed by Galgotias University at the summit expo, the robodog was introduced by Assistant Professor Neha Singh in a video interview to DD News as “Orion”, described as being “developed” by the university’s Centre of Excellence.

Online users, however, quickly identified the robot as a commercially-available Chinese model – the Unitree Go2. Within hours, the clip became fodder for criticism, memes, and political commentary. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also shared the clip on his X account before deleting it.

Clarifications, statements, but no apology

When questions arose, clarifications followed. In a statement to ANI, Neha Singh said she may not have expressed herself clearly.

“Your 6 can be my 9,” she remarked – a philosophical defence at what is meant to be a technological summit.

Meanwhile, Galgotias University scrambled to contain the fallout, but arguably deepened it. In the span of 24 hours, it issued three statements.

At 7.49 pm on Tuesday (February 17), the university posted on X that “Galgotias has not built this robodog, neither have we claimed (sic)”. It said it had “recently acquired” the robodog from Unitree.

Also Read: Galgotias robodog row: ‘This is arrogance of an inexplicable kind’ | AI With Sanket

The response did little to quell criticism. Social media users called out the university for misrepresentation and the absence of an apology.

At 1.40 am on Wednesday (February 18), Galgotias doubled down, alleging a “propaganda campaign” against it and stating that the university community was “deeply pained”.

“Spreading negativity can harm the morale of students, who are working hard to innovate, learn, and build their skills using global technologies,” the statement said.

Political reactions

Even as the university attempted damage control, political reactions from opposition leaders arrived swiftly, and the BJP government was the target of most of them.

Congress leader Pawan Khera wrote on X, “This ‘Galgotia Government’ has only nourished Galgotia-like Universities in India.”

He added that six of the “seven Indian-origin global tech CEOs praised by Emmanuel Macron” had studied in Indian institutions built over decades.

“India’s global standing rests on decades of institution-building and vision shaped under Congress governments - unlike the BJP’s ‘GALA-GHONTIA (throttling)’ approach to education today,” he wrote.

Also Read: India AI Summit: 10 things that Google’s Sundar Pichai said

In a separate post, he said Ashwini Vaishnaw had “proved that in India, AI means ‘Ashwini is Incompetent.’”

CPI(M) MP John Brittas also weighed in, writing that Galgotias University had “enjoyed the patronage and support of prominent BJP leaders” and that this association was evident when it “blatantly showcased a commercially-available Chinese robotic dog as an in-house invention”.

Whether ousted or not, he said, the university would “remain firmly in the BJP’s orbit”.

Galgotias told to vacate its stall

Faced with mounting criticism, the summit organisers asked Galgotias to vacate its stall on Wednesday and cut off the electricity supply. S Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, confirmed the action.

In a single breath, Krishnan said that “misinformation cannot be encouraged”, but also that he could “not get into whether they're right or wrong, we just don't want the controversy”.

How misinformation would be prevented without acknowledging it had occurred was left unexplained.

University’s ‘profuse apology’

At 5.04 pm, the university issued a third statement. It “apologised profusely” for the “confusion” and sought to pin the blame on Neha Singh. Without naming her, the statement said “one of our representatives manning the pavilion was ill-informed”.

“She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually-incorrect information even though she was not authorised to speak to the press,” it said, adding that “there was no institutional intent to misrepresent this innovation”.

Also Read: Galgotias University forced to exit AI Summit after robot dog row over misrepresentation

Responding to these developments, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wrote on X, stating, “So this is what Galgotias teaches its students by example - copy someone else’s work & claim it as your own. When you get caught, you don’t own up & apologise, instead you 6 & 9 to make excuses. When that doesn’t work, you throw an employee under the bus & blame them for everything to save your own skin. Thank heavens this wasn’t the education I received.”

Summit marred by logistical woes

The robodog is not the only complication. Congress MP Sasikant Senthil posted that the summit had turned into “a masterclass in how not to host a tech event”, citing “crashing logistics, patchy Wi-Fi, UPI failures, and exhibitors being locked out before the Prime Minister’s visit”.

“While the world debates cutting-edge AI breakthroughs, we couldn’t even get the basics right. If this is our idea of "impact”, then the only thing we are scaling efficiently is disappointment!” he wrote on X.

For all its cutting-edge technology, the summit has made headlines for sputtering connectivity, the absence of UPI payments, and general mismanagement.

One widely-shared post listed the “prohibited items” for attendees – bags, car keys, laptops, earbuds, food, and water – a minimalist approach to a tech gathering.

Also Read: Leaders flag AI's potential to transform education at India AI summit

Another read: “No UPI, only cash at food counter at India AI Impact Summit 2026. Truly #DigitalIndia…”

To make matters worse, Dhananjay Yadav, Co-Founder and CEO of NeoSapien, shared on X that his company’s patented AI wearables were allegedly stolen from inside the summit premises on Day 1 after exhibitors were asked to vacate their stalls ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit. They were recovered by the Delhi Police the next day.

According to some accounts, however, some of these issues have since been resolved.

The India AI Impact Summit runs until February 21 and has been projected by the Modi government as a major milestone in India’s move to become an AI leader in the Global South. The only hitch is that, in a race to lead the AI age, it seems to be stumbling over the basics.