Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday strongly criticized the AI Summit, describing it as a “disorganised PR spectacle” and alleging that Chinese-made products were being displayed at the event. In a post on X, Gandhi said the summit failed to highlight India’s own technological strengths and instead reflected poor planning and misplaced priorities. He claimed that rather than harnessing India’s talent and vast data resources to drive genuine innovation, the event appeared to showcase foreign technology while India’s potential remained underutilized.

The controversy intensified after Galgotias University reportedly exhibited a robotic dog named “Orion” at its stall. Critics alleged that the robot was actually the Unitree Go2, a product developed by the Chinese robotics company Unitree Robotics, and not an original creation by the university. Following the backlash, sources indicated that the university was directed to immediately vacate its stall at the summit expo.

The Indian National Congress also criticized the government, accusing the administration led by Narendra Modi of damaging India’s global credibility in artificial intelligence. The party claimed that presenting Chinese robots as Indian innovations had exposed the country to international ridicule, including mockery from Chinese media outlets.

Congress further alleged that Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had contributed to the controversy by promoting the robots at the summit. The party said the incident had undermined India’s image in a critical technology sector where it has the capability to become a global leader. It emphasized that India’s data strength and skilled workforce should be used to drive authentic progress rather than relying on misleading presentations.