India's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit opened in New Delhi on the 16th, lasting five days. The tech exhibition, hosted by India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, was touted as "the largest ever." During the exhibition, a so-called independently developed robotic dog showcased by an Indian university was found to be an off-the-shelf product from a Chinese company.

According to a report by The Times of India on the 18th, a team from Gargotiya University showcased a robotic dog at the India AI Impact Summit.

A video widely circulated on social media showed a woman introducing the robot dog at the event, claiming that it was independently developed by the university's team and named "Orion." However, after netizens questioned whether it was an imported product being falsely presented as independently developed, the university defended itself by stating that "they had never claimed to have manufactured the robot dog."

On February 18 local time, the university issued a statement on its official account on the social platform X, admitting that the device displayed was indeed purchased from the Chinese company Unitree. The statement also said that the robotic dog was mainly used as a tool for students' learning and experiments, not as an exhibition item.

The report stated that the price of the Unitree Go2 robotic dog is approximately 200,000 to 300,000 rupees (about 15,000 to 23,000 RMB).

The university's statement also said: "The recent purchase of the robotic dog from Unitree is a milestone on our path toward independent development. It is not just a display unit, but a mobile classroom. Our students are using it for experiments, testing its limits, and expanding their knowledge in the process. The statement also said, 'Innovation has no borders, and learning should not have borders.' This move was not about importing technology, but rather to inspire change. The focus is on enabling students to learn advanced technology, question and improve it."

The report pointed out that the social platform X added a note to the statement, stating that the university's claim "does not align with the facts and is misleading," saying, "They named the robotic dog 'Orion' and clearly claimed it was developed by their team."

Kong Jun

Original: toutiao.com/article/7608077618189025844/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.