New Delhi: The India AI Impact Summit 2026 became a site of major controversy and, according to many, a “national embarrassment”, after a Chinese robot was claimed by a private university as its own. The Galgotias University, whose communications professor initially claimed the Unitree Robotics’ Go2 robodog as “Orion” developed by its “Centre of Excellence”, later backtracked from ever claiming it in a statement following the uproar.
Unitree Robotics, founded in 2016, is the brainchild of Wang Xingxing, a 35-year-old robotic enthusiast. Wang made headlines in February 2025 after securing a front-row seat at President Xi Jinping’s business symposium, with his robots attracting significant attention from industry leaders, according to the South China Morning Post.
Wang, as CEO, holds a 27.8 per cent stake in the company, which is backed by major investors such as Alibaba, Tencent, and China Mobile. After several rounds of funding, the company became a joint-stock firm in 2025, valued at $1.7 billion and is planning to launch an IPO, with the company valuation expected to rise to $7 billion.
Unitree Robotics
The Unitree Go2 robodog, which started as Wang’s college project XDog and attracted an angel investor, can sprint at speeds of up to 5 metres per second. It measures about 70 cm in length, 31 cm in width, and 40 cm in height. Weighing around 15 kg without its battery, the robodog carries 12 degrees of freedom across four legs, driven by high-torque motors. This allows it to climb 30-40 degree slopes, jump over 16 cm obstacles, and carry payloads up to 12 kg in its top models.
In India, the Go2 is priced roughly between Rs 2-3 lakh, making it accessible for education, research, security patrols, and even entertainment.
Today, Unitree Robotics is a fast-growing empire that is expected to ship 20,000 humanoid robots in 2026 alone. Last year, it shipped around 5,500 units.
Beyond the Go2, Unitree’s lineup includes the Go1, its lighter and fast-charging predecessor, and the industrial B-series. The B2 reaches speeds of 6 meters per second and can travel up to 50 kilometres with wheels, while the waterproof B1 is designed for rescue and farming tasks.
The company has also ventured into humanoid robotics with the G1 and the upcoming H2 for embodied artificial intelligence applications. Robotic arms, such as the 6-DoF Z1 with a 3 kg payload and 740 mm reach, and the D1-T, designed for precision tasks, are used in factories, education, and logistics. By building its own actuators, sensors, and AI algorithms, Unitree offers performance comparable with the American engineering firm Boston Dynamics at a much lower cost.
From security to Chinese New Year TV shows, robots are no longer works of science fiction but part of everyday life.
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Chinese robodogs at the AI summit
Unitree Robotics became infamous at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, after Galgotias University claimed its Go2 robodog as its own. During an interview with a reporter from DD News, communications professor Neha Singh presented Go2 as “Orion”, claiming it had been developed by the university.
“We are the first private university investing more than Rs 350 crore in artificial intelligence, and we have a data science and artificial intelligence block on the campus. Orion has been developed by the Centre of Excellence,” said Singh.
Social media users soon noticed similarities, highlighting how the design, the LiDAR setup, and the movements all matched the commercially available Unitree Go2.
One user on X said, “They shamelessly presented the Chinese Unitree Go2 robot as their own innovation at the AI Summit in Delhi.”
The post quickly went viral, with many calling the incident “shameless” and “harmful to India’s credibility”.
“The Modi govt has made a laughing stock of India globally, concerning AI. The Chinese media has mocked us. This is truly embarrassing for India,” a post by the Congress’s official X account read.
Other users shared side-by-side images mocking the Rs 2.5 lakh robot as an “Rs 350 crore AI ecosystem” scam, adding pressure to remove the university from the event.
The university has since been asked by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to vacate its space at the AI Summit. The university has since issued a statement, saying it had recently “acquired” the robodog from Unitree.
An X user named Anshul Saxena alleged that Wipro too had presented a procured Go2 under the name “TJ” at the AI Summit.
China’s robotics industry, led by Unitree Robotics, continues to lead the world in affordable, high-performance robots. The backlash was harsh, especially as India is pushing for self-reliance in AI and robotics.