From the spotlight at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi to a national controversy, Assistant Professor Neha Singh of Galgotias University, Noida, has become the center of public debate over the presentation of a robotic dog claimed to be an in-house innovation.
The dispute erupted when Singh demonstrated a four-legged robot at the summit, introducing it as "Orion" and stating it was developed by the university’s Centre of Excellence, backed by a Rs350 crore investment. She described the robot as an advanced surveillance tool capable of navigating difficult terrain.
However, tech experts and social media users quickly identified the device as a Unitree Go2, a commercially available Chinese robot, with visible Unitree branding still on the device. Critics accused the university of misrepresenting a mass-produced foreign product (retailing around ₹2.5 lakh) as indigenous innovation to gain attention at a government-supported event.
Following widespread online backlash, summit organizers instructed Galgotias University to vacate its exhibition stall on February 18, 2026. The university later issued a statement clarifying that it had never claimed to have built the robot, framing it instead as a “classroom in motion” purchased to provide students exposure to global technology.
Despite this explanation, the original footage of Singh’s presentation fueled further skepticism. Social media platforms even attached a “Community Note” warning that the university’s denial was misleading in light of the video evidence.
Academic Profile of Neha Singh
Prior to the controversy, Singh had established a strong academic record. She joined Galgotias University in August 2023, after teaching roles at Presidency University Bangalore and COER Roorkee.
She earned a PhD from BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus (2020), specializing in Computational Geometry and Mesh Generation, and has published research on Input Size Independent Quality Mesh Generation, a critical area for engineering simulations. She also holds an MTech in Computer Science from ABV-IIITM Gwalior, highlighting her technical expertise despite the current reputational challenges.
The incident has sparked a broader discussion in India’s tech community about ethical representation of technology at academic and government forums and the responsibilities of institutions in promoting genuine innovation.
