Fujitsu and Carnegie Mellon University Establish Joint Research Center for Physical AI
Fujitsu and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have launched the 'Fujitsu-Carnegie Mellon Physical AI Research Center' in Pittsburgh. The center will focus on developing core technologies for Physical AI, which integrates robotics and AI to automate complex operations in industries like manufacturing and logistics, addressing social issues such as labor shortages.
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- 📰 Published: April 28, 2026 at 23:55
- 🔍 Collected: April 28, 2026 at 15:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 28, 2026 at 15:43 (11 min after Collected)
Fujitsu Limited (Fujitsu) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) today announced the establishment of the Fujitsu-Carnegie Mellon Physical AI Research Center. This research center aims to serve as a global hub for joint research and development of core technologies to enhance the functionality and scalability of Physical AI, and to implement the resulting innovations in society.
### Research Areas and Purpose of Establishment
Physical AI is expected to contribute to solving social issues such as improving productivity, addressing labor shortages, and ensuring safety by enabling AI systems to operate in the real world and interact with people and environments. This will drive automation and optimization in fields like manufacturing, logistics, construction, infrastructure, and healthcare.
However, achieving this requires the integration of expertise and technology across multiple disciplines, including robotics, AI, simulation, human-robot interaction, ethics, and social acceptance. Therefore, in addition to progress in individual fields, initiatives that strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration and promote the social implementation of research results are essential.
The research center was established as a hub to bring together interdisciplinary expertise and promote an integrated research approach that connects academia and industry to address these challenges.
### Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the Physical AI field, the research center involves collaboration among CMU faculty members from diverse specialties such as robotics, AI, language understanding, human-robot interaction, system design, application to social infrastructure, and ethics/social acceptance. Participating professors include:
- Yonatan Bisk (Assistant Professor), Area: Language Technologies
- Fernando De La Torre (Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- Tim Dettmers (Assistant Professor), Area: Machine Learning
- Laszlo Jeni (Assistant Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- Kris Kitani (Associate Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- David Lindlbauer (Assistant Professor), Area: Human-Computer Interaction
- Yorie Nakahira (Assistant Professor), Area: Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Graham Neubig (Associate Professor), Area: Language Technologies
- Jean Oh (Associate Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- Sean Qian (Professor), Area: Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Sebastian Scherer (Associate Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- Peter Spirtes (Department Head and Professor), Area: Philosophy
- Kun Zhang (Professor), Area: Philosophy
Fujitsu and CMU will drive R&D through an interdisciplinary approach that merges their respective knowledge, focusing on areas such as action generation/learning, spatial recognition/environmental understanding, coordinated control/optimization of multiple robots, human-robot collaboration, and the integration of simulation and the real world. The center will also utilize CMU’s Robotics Innovation Center, which opened in February 2026. Located in Hazelwood Green, Pittsburgh, this approximately 14,000-square-meter facility bridges fundamental research and commercial deployment. By leveraging professional equipment and collaborative research spaces for validating Physical AI in real environments, the center will accelerate empirical and applied research.
### Fujitsu Kozuchi Physical OS
Fujitsu aims to realize a Physical AI platform applicable even in mission-critical areas supporting social infrastructure, leveraging its strength in providing integrated solutions across AI, computing, and networks. On a consistent platform from cloud to edge, it targets real-world...
### Research Areas and Purpose of Establishment
Physical AI is expected to contribute to solving social issues such as improving productivity, addressing labor shortages, and ensuring safety by enabling AI systems to operate in the real world and interact with people and environments. This will drive automation and optimization in fields like manufacturing, logistics, construction, infrastructure, and healthcare.
However, achieving this requires the integration of expertise and technology across multiple disciplines, including robotics, AI, simulation, human-robot interaction, ethics, and social acceptance. Therefore, in addition to progress in individual fields, initiatives that strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration and promote the social implementation of research results are essential.
The research center was established as a hub to bring together interdisciplinary expertise and promote an integrated research approach that connects academia and industry to address these challenges.
### Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the Physical AI field, the research center involves collaboration among CMU faculty members from diverse specialties such as robotics, AI, language understanding, human-robot interaction, system design, application to social infrastructure, and ethics/social acceptance. Participating professors include:
- Yonatan Bisk (Assistant Professor), Area: Language Technologies
- Fernando De La Torre (Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- Tim Dettmers (Assistant Professor), Area: Machine Learning
- Laszlo Jeni (Assistant Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- Kris Kitani (Associate Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- David Lindlbauer (Assistant Professor), Area: Human-Computer Interaction
- Yorie Nakahira (Assistant Professor), Area: Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Graham Neubig (Associate Professor), Area: Language Technologies
- Jean Oh (Associate Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- Sean Qian (Professor), Area: Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Sebastian Scherer (Associate Research Professor), Area: Robotics
- Peter Spirtes (Department Head and Professor), Area: Philosophy
- Kun Zhang (Professor), Area: Philosophy
Fujitsu and CMU will drive R&D through an interdisciplinary approach that merges their respective knowledge, focusing on areas such as action generation/learning, spatial recognition/environmental understanding, coordinated control/optimization of multiple robots, human-robot collaboration, and the integration of simulation and the real world. The center will also utilize CMU’s Robotics Innovation Center, which opened in February 2026. Located in Hazelwood Green, Pittsburgh, this approximately 14,000-square-meter facility bridges fundamental research and commercial deployment. By leveraging professional equipment and collaborative research spaces for validating Physical AI in real environments, the center will accelerate empirical and applied research.
### Fujitsu Kozuchi Physical OS
Fujitsu aims to realize a Physical AI platform applicable even in mission-critical areas supporting social infrastructure, leveraging its strength in providing integrated solutions across AI, computing, and networks. On a consistent platform from cloud to edge, it targets real-world...