Chinese robodog row: Galgotias University professors issue clarification

New Delhi: After the organisers directed the Galgotias University to vacate the AI Impact Summit Expo for causing a 'national embarrassment', by presenting a Chinese Unitree robodog as its own, professors from the university on Wednesday came out to clarify their stand.

Stating that they never pitched the Chinese AI-powered robodog as its own, the professors said that the matter was blown out of proportion on social media and the whole episode emanated over a small misinterpretation, which was "unintended and unintentional".

Speaking to IANS, Professor Neha Singh said the controversy arose due to miscommunication while she was explaining the robot’s capabilities. She said her intention was to highlight how students were studying the robot and working on further development, not to falsely claim ownership.

“I was explaining what the robot can do, its features, and all related details. Somewhere along the way, the message got slightly digressed, and later many things became controversial. The purpose was for students to study the robot and further develop it, contributing to a stronger and more Viksit Bharat. That was our full intention. Unfortunately, due to the surrounding excitement and hype, some things got misrepresented, and the words were slightly misinterpreted, which led to this controversy. We are genuinely embarrassed about it and feel bad that this happened at the AI Summit, which was meant to showcase our students’ work,” she said.

She further clarified that the robot was brought to the expo as part of a research and learning exercise.

“We have taken that robot for studying it and doing research. It was in the lab and it was brought here for projection. After the controversy, I will say to see everyone what our students have made,” she added.

Professor Singh also expressed confidence that the incident would not weaken the university’s reputation as it has contributed significantly to national development and has made the country proud on multiple occasions.

“I don’t think it will impact the university. We have made the country proud many times. The university have a lot for the development of the country. So, there is nothing like it will impact or harm the university. But, yes things got misinterpreted. Through your medium, I want to do clarification,” she said.

Professor Aishwarya Srivastava also spoke to IANS and said the university regretted that the issue had been miscommunicated. She said the institution had participated in the summit to showcase student projects and had no intention of harming India’s image.

“We have regret that it has been miscommunicated. We came here to showcase the work of our students, and we are not in any way trying to tarnish India’s image. Our university aligns with the Prime Minister’s vision and mission. We are working towards a Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” she said.

Srivastava added that the university was not offering an apology but acknowledged that the matter was misunderstood.

“Not apology. We acknowledge that the matter was slightly misleading and misinterpreted. A small issue was blown out of proportion on social media, though we never had any such intention. Our students have developed iOS apps,” she said.