A day after controversy erupted over a robot dog exhibit, the Centre directed that stalls put up by Galgotias University be removed from the expo area of the India AI Impact Summit.
Addressing the issue at a press briefing on Wednesday, S Krishnan, secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity), said the step was taken to ensure that the focus of the summit remains on innovation rather than controversy.
Krishnan said the objective was to maintain decorum and ensure that the platform is not misused.
Krishnan said the the decision was taken “to ensure that controversies do not overshadow our efforts.” He emphasised that exhibitions at such global events must adhere to a proper code of conduct.
“What happened should not affect the way people present or exhibit their work at such events. The idea is not to use an opportunity like this to create unnecessary noise,” Krishnan said.
The row began on Tuesday when a robot dog displayed at the university’s stall was claimed to be developed by its students.
Neha Singh, a professor associated with the university, had earlier said in an interview that the robot, named ‘Orion’, was built by students. She also stated that the institution had invested more than ₹350 crore in AI and had a dedicated data science and artificial intelligence block on campus.
However, it later emerged that the robot was a commercially available Go2 model manufactured by China-based Unitree Robotics.
Following the backlash, Singh said her remarks were made in enthusiasm and may not have been articulated clearly. She maintained that the intent was misunderstood.
On Wednesday, the university’s registrar Nitin Gaur said the issue stemmed from confusion between the terms “develop” and “development”.
According to him:
The university did not manufacture the robot
It was purchased for research purposes
Students were working on its development and applications
No official communication had been received at that point regarding vacating the stall
He said the robot was acquired to support student research and experimentation, adding that the professor may have misspoken during the interview.
Krishnan reiterated that many institutions and startups had presented strong exhibits at the summit and that their efforts should not be overshadowed by a single incident.
The university has said it will address the issue further at a press conference, maintaining that its earlier claim was taken out of context.
