‘Misinformation cannot be encouraged’: IT Secretary S. Krishnan on RoboDog controversy

S. Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has responded to the controversy surrounding Galgotias University’s display at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, stressing that only genuine work should be showcased at public expos.

According to the government official, Galgotias University was asked to vacate the stall at the expo. The government official said, “We want genuine and actual work to be reflected in the way that people exhibit at expos. The idea is not to use this as an opportunity in any other way. We don’t want the controversy surrounding the exhibits presented here. So I think it’s essential that a code is followed there. Misinformation cannot be encouraged. So we don’t want the controversy around this. I’m not getting into whether they are right or wrong. We just don’t want the controversy.”

Krishnan further stated that the government did not want exhibitors to present products that were not their own innovations. “We do not want such exhibits to continue,” he said.

Video sparks online backlash

The row began after a video from the summit went viral on social media. In the clip, Professor Neha Singh, stationed at the Galgotias University pavilion, introduced a robotic dog named ‘Orion’ to DD News and described it as having been developed by the university’s Centre of Excellence.

Soon after, social media users pointed out that the robot appeared to be the Unitree Go2, a quadruped robot manufactured by Unitree Robotics and commonly used worldwide for research and educational purposes.

The claims led to mounting criticism and questions about whether the device had been misrepresented.

University apologises, says representative was ‘ill-informed’

In a post on X, the Greater Noida-based institution apologised for the confusion caused at the summit.

It wrote: “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 university clarified that Professor Singh was not authorised to brief the media and maintained that there was no intention to misrepresent the origins of the robotic dog.

“Galgotias University remains firmly committed to academic integrity, transparency, and responsible representation of our work. Understanding the organisers’ sentiment, we have vacated the premises,” it added.