NEW DELHI β The high-stakes, high-tech atmosphere of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 took an unexpected turn into “cringe” territory this Wednesday. What was meant to be a showcase of Bharat’s burgeoning tech prowess turned into a PR nightmare for Galgotias University, as organizers unceremoniously evicted the institution from the expo floor.
The reason? A sleek, four-legged robotic dog that looked a little too familiar to tech enthusiasts.
The “Orion” That Was Actually a Go2
The drama began at the universityβs kiosk at Bharat Mandapam. Representatives were seen proudly displaying a robotic dog, rebranded as “Orion,” and claiming it was a product of the universityβs own Centre of Excellence. The “innovation” even caught the eye of national broadcaster Doordarshan, which featured the robot in a segment before the internet did what the internet does best: fact-check.
Social media users quickly pointed out that “Orion” was, in fact, a Unitree Go2βa commercially available robot manufactured by the Chinese firm Unitree Robotics. While the university allegedly pitched it as an original creation, the Go2 is widely available online in India for roughly βΉ2 lakh to βΉ3 lakh.
“We donβt want unnecessary controversy that threatens to overshadow the good work other exhibitors are doing,” said IT Secretary S. Krishnan during a press conference following the eviction. “There needs to be adherence to some code so that inauthentic behavior is not promoted.”
Double Trouble: The “Soccer Drone” Dispute
As if the robotic dog wasnβt enough, the university found itself fighting a second fire online. Viral videos emerged of a Galgotias employee claiming they had built a “soccer drone” from scratch through “end-to-end engineering.”
Sharp-eyed netizens were quick to identify the device as the Helsel Striker V3 ARF, a South Korean drone used for sports that can be bought off the shelf for about βΉ40,000.
Damage Control: “A Classroom in Motion”
In a strongly worded rebuttal, Galgotias University denied ever claiming they built the hardware. According to their statement, the robot was never meant to be an “original” exhibit, but rather a “classroom in motion.”
“Let us be clearβGalgotias has not built this robodog, neither have we claimed [to]. But what we are building are minds that will soon design, engineer, and manufacture such technologies right here in Bharat,” the university stated.
They maintained that their mission is to bring cutting-edge tech from the U.S. and China to their campus to keep students “ahead of the curve.”
Political Firestorm
The incident has quickly spiraled into a political talking point. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi slammed the event, calling the summit a “disorganized PR spectacle” where “Chinese products [are] showcased” instead of leveraging Indian talent. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge joined the fray, accusing the government of “mismanagement” and making India a “laughing stock.”
While the AI Summit continues to showcase genuine breakthroughs in Indian machine learning and automation, the “Orion” incident serves as a stark reminder: in the age of instant internet sleuthing, you can’t just slap a new label on a Chinese robot and call it “Make in India.”