IIT Kharagpur to establish India’s first Physical AI school with Rs 35 crore investment

IIT Kharagpur said that the academic programmes will likely begin from the upcoming academic session, subject to the necessary approvals Photo: AI Generated)

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has announced that it will set up India’s first dedicated academic school focused on Physical Artificial Intelligence (AI) with an investment worth Rs 35 crore.

The foundation of Benjamin Gupta School of Physical AI will be laid under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by IIT Kharagpur, its alumnus and philanthropist Vinod Gupta, and the IITKGP Foundation USA.

The project will receive a contribution of Rs 12.5 crore from the Vinod Gupta family and Rs 10 crore from an anonymous alumnus, while IIT Kharagpur will provide the remaining funds. The school has been named in memory of Vinod Gupta’s late son, Benjamin Gupta, and will operate with IIT Kharagpur’s Department of Artificial Intelligence, according to an institute statement.

Deviating from conventional AI, which mainly revolves around data, algorithms and digital systems, Physical AI focuses on creating intelligent systems that can understand and interact with the physical world. It combines AI with scientific principles, real-world sensing and intelligent control,  it said.

The institute added that the new school will work in areas such as physics-informed machine learning, scientific AI, digital twins, intelligent robotics, autonomous systems, advanced sensing and AI-based experimentation. It will also focus on developing AI systems that are reliable, explainable and responsible, particularly for applications where accuracy and safety are important.

Academic programmes will likely begin from the upcoming academic session, subject to the necessary approvals. The programmes will cater to students, researchers and working professionals from engineering, physical sciences, life sciences and medicine, with a special focus on combining domain knowledge with modern AI skills.

IIT Kharagpur Director Suman Chakraborty said the school aims to take AI beyond its role as a “black-box” technology by combining algorithmic capabilities with fundamental scientific and domain-specific knowledge.

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The school will also partner with industry, healthcare institutions, research laboratories, startups and international partners to promote research, technology development and professional reskilling in Physical AI, the statement said.