Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Japanese information and communication technology company Fujitsu Limited have established a new international research hub aimed at advancing “physical artificial intelligence” (AI) systems that can operate in physical environments and interact with people and the physical world.
They said the new Fujitsu-Carnegie Mellon Physical AI Research Center will serve as a global hub for research and development, bringing together academic and industry expertise to improve the capabilities and scalability of physical AI systems.
Physical AI refers to AI systems designed to operate beyond digital environments, enabling machines to perceive, learn from, and act within real-world settings.
The technology is expected to help address major societal challenges, including improving productivity, mitigating labor shortages, and enhancing safety across industries such as manufacturing, logistics, construction, infrastructure, and healthcare.
CMU and Fujitsu officials said achieving these goals will require integrating technologies and expertise across multiple disciplines, including robotics, AI, simulation, human-robot interaction, and ethics.
The new center is designed to meet that need through an interdisciplinary approach that connects academic research with practical, real-world deployment, the organizations said.
At the new center, researchers and engineers will collaborate on core areas such as action generation and learning, spatial perception and environmental understanding, multi-robot coordination, and human-robot collaboration.
The work will also focus on integrating simulation tools with real-world systems to improve how AI models adapt to dynamic environments.
The initiative brings together a wide range of disciplines, reflecting the complexity of physical AI development. Researchers will work alongside industry engineers and technicians to ensure that emerging technologies are aligned with real-world demands and can be deployed effectively across sectors.
The research will be supported by CMU’s Innovation Center in Pittsburgh, a 14,000-square-meter facility that opened earlier this year. The center is designed to bridge fundamental research and commercial deployment hy offering specialized environments to test AI systems in real-world conditions.
Fujitsu also plans to incorporate technologies developed through the collaboration into its broader physical AI platform, including its Kozuchi Physical OS.
This platform is designed to integrate robots, sensors, and systems, enabling coordinated operations through a combination of “brain intelligence,” which enhances adaptability, and “spatial intelligence,” which provides environmental awareness, the organizations said.
Technologies from the research center are expected to be gradually integrated into the Fujitsu platform beginning in fiscal year 2026, enabling more advanced and reliable AI-driven systems capable of handling complex, real-world tasks.
“We are delighted to announce the establishment of a joint center for physical AI with Carnegie Mellon University, a global leader in the fields of robotics and AI,” said Vivek Mahajan, corporate vice president and chief technology officer in charge of System Platform at Fujitsu.
“At this research center, Fujitsu will create new value through the convergence of AI, computing, networking, and robotics, and accelerate the societal implementation of reliable physical AI,” Mahajan said.
“Furthermore, to realize a society where humans and robots coexist and collaborate, we will expand our research scope to areas that underpin the social infrastructure and contribute to the building of a sustainable society,” the official said.
“The Fujitsu-Carnegie Mellon Physical AI Research Center builds on CMU’s focus on developing AI and robotics systems to tackle real-world problems and the university’s collaboration with industry to put those innovations into practice and inspire what’s next,” stated Martial Hebert, dean and university professor of robotics at CMU’s School of Computer Science.
“Physical AI will fuel the machines of tomorrow, allowing for competent decision-making, enhanced efficiency, greater safety, and, perhaps most importantly, trust to work alongside humans in critical fields,” Hebert said.
