'Misinformation Cannot Be Encouraged, But We Don't Want Any Controversy': MeitY Secretary on Galgotias AI Summit Row

New Delhi: Galgotias University has vacated its stall at the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam following a wave of backlash over a "Chinese-made" robot dog that was allegedly presented as a proprietary invention.

The exit comes amid a stern reminder from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) regarding academic integrity and the prevention of misinformation at national expos.

Government Stance: “Misinformation Cannot Be Encouraged”

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan emphasized that while the government wants to focus on genuine innovation, there is no room for misleading displays. While Krishnan avoided commenting on the specifics of the university's claims, he noted that a "code" must be followed to maintain the integrity of the event.

"We want genuine and actual work to be reflected in the way that people exhibit in expos. The idea is not to sort of use this as an opportunity in any other fashion. 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 said.

"Exhibitors must not display items that are not theirs," he also said.

University Issues Apology

The Greater Noida-based private university issued a formal statement apologizing for what they termed a "confusion" created by an "ill-informed" representative.

The university clarified that Professor Neha Singh, who appeared in a viral video introducing the robot as "Orion," was a communications faculty member from the School of Management, not an AI specialist, and was not authorized to speak to the press.

The official statement read: "She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information... Galgotias University remains firmly committed to academic integrity, transparency, and responsible representation of our work."

"Develop vs. Development": The University’s Defense

Registrar Nitin Kumar Gaur addressed the media to clarify the university's position, attributing the incident to a linguistic misunderstanding regarding the robot’s origins noting the robot was purchased for student research.

On the invention claims, Gaur said, “This is a jumble of two words: develop and development. We didn't develop it. We worked on its development."

On the "Orion" video, Gaur suggested Professor Singh might have been "confused... in the flow" of the interview but maintained the robot was purely a tool for student labs.

Professor Neha Singh also defended her actions to ANI, claiming she never intended to pass the robot off as an original Galgotias creation. 

"We have never claimed that it is ours, Indian, or Galgotian. Its main branding is still on it," she said, adding that the controversy stemmed from a single "misinterpretation."

Current Status

Despite conflicting reports on whether the university was officially ordered to leave or left voluntarily to respect "organizers' sentiment," sources confirm the stall was vacated on Wednesday. The "RoboDog," which the university maintains was brought only for "projection" and student study, has been returned to the campus labs.

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