An Indian university has courted controversy at AI Impact Summit in Delhi, after an official of the institution claimed ownership of a Chinese-made robotic dog. The incident surfaced when a professor from Galgotias University in her remarks in a viral video told state-run television channel, DD News, that the robot named ‘Orion’ was “developed” at their Centre of Excellence.
Online users later identified the machine as the Go2 model made by Chinese firm, Unitree Robotics. Analysts placed the commercial value of the robot at about 200,000 rupees ($2,200; £1,600). However, following the controversy, the university in a statement on Wednesday denied claiming it built the robot, describing the backlash as a propaganda campaign.
“We would like to clearly state that the robotic programming is part of our endeavour to make students learn AI programming and develop and deploy real world skills using globally available tools and resources, given developing AI talent is need of the hour,” the university said. The professor, Neha Singh, was seen in the video later telling newsmen that her remarks were misunderstood.
“It might be that I could not convey well what I wanted to say, or you could not understand well what I wanted to say,” she said. Despite the clarification, social media users still accus the university of dishonesty
