On 18th February (Wednesday), Galgotias University, which has received intense backlash for claiming a Chinese robodog as its own at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi and was told to leave the exhibition amid the massive controversy, issued a formal statement to “apologise profusely for the confusion.”
However, the institution has placed the entire blame on its professor in the communications department, Neha Singh, labelling her as “ill-informed” for sharing inaccurate details in the excitement of “being on camera” despite not having permission to interact with the media.
“We at Galgotias University, wish to apologise profusely for the confusion created at the recent Al Summit. 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,” the press release alleged.
It further read, “We request your kind understanding as there was no institutional intent to misrepresent this innovation. Galgotias University remains firmly committed to academic integrity, transparency, and responsible representation of our work. Understanding the organisers sentiment we have vacated the premises.” The statement was published in the name of the insitution’s registrar, Dr. N K Gaur.
— Galgotias University (@GalgotiasGU) February 18, 2026
The educational establishment had earlier issued a statement to express its anguish over the “negative propaganda campaign” when the matter was first highlighted. It asserted that the robotic programming campaign was only about exposing students to AI through “globally available tools and resources,” in addition to warning that “spreading negativity can harm the morale of students.” The university declared, “Let us be clear Galgotias has not built this robodog, neither have we claimed,” in another clarification.
In a now-deleted DD India video from the program, Professor Neha Singh of Galgotias University was seen stating that the robotic dog was developed by the “Centre of Excellence” at the university. The Chinese Unitree Go2 robot dog was thus rebranded as ORION and displayed as part of the university’s AI-driven Centres of Excellence and infrastructure. However, the truth soon emerged, leading to severe backlash against the institution.
Amid this, it was also found that the university presented a South Korean soccer drone as its own, claiming that it was developed ‘end to end’ by the university. They actually presented the Striker V3 ARF made by Helsel at the event.
“The controversy happened because things may not have been expressed clearly. I take accountability that perhaps I did not communicate it properly, as it was done with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and very quickly, so I may not have come across as eloquently as I usually do. Also, the intent may not have been properly understood,” asserted Professor Neha Singh later.
“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,” she added.
The university even refused to leave the summit, claiming that they had not received any evacuation order. After that, the lights at the Galgotias University pavilion were turned off by the authorities and the stall was barricaded, after which the university’s staff were eventually forced to leave.
