The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur is set to establish what it describes as India’s first dedicated academic school for Physical Artificial Intelligence, backed by an investment of ₹35 crore. The Benjamin Gupta School of Physical AI will be created under a memorandum of understanding signed between the institute, its distinguished alumnus and philanthropist Vinod Gupta, and the IITKGP Foundation USA.
The school is named in memory of Mr Gupta’s late son, Benjamin Gupta. It will house the institute’s Department of Artificial Intelligence and act as a hub for interdisciplinary teaching and research.
How the school is being funded
- ₹12.5 crore from the Vinod Gupta family
- ₹10 crore from an alumnus who has chosen to remain anonymous
- The remaining amount from IIT Kharagpur itself
What is Physical AI?
Much of today’s artificial intelligence learns patterns from data and runs inside digital applications. Physical AI goes a step further: it aims to build intelligent systems that can understand and interact with the real world by combining algorithms with scientific principles, real-world sensing and intelligent control.
According to the institute, the new school will concentrate on physics-informed machine learning, scientific AI, digital twins, intelligent robotics, autonomous systems, advanced sensing and AI-enabled experimentation. A key goal is to develop reliable, explainable and responsible AI for safety-critical uses, where physical accuracy, robustness and accountability cannot be compromised.
Programmes from the upcoming session
Subject to the necessary approvals, academic programmes are expected to start in the upcoming session. They will be open to students, researchers and working professionals from engineering, the physical sciences, life sciences and medicine, with an emphasis on pairing deep domain knowledge with modern AI capabilities. The school also plans to bring together academia, industry, healthcare institutions, research laboratories, startups and international partners for research, technology development and professional reskilling.
“AI has transformed the way we process information. Its next great leap will be in transforming the way we understand, engineer and interact with the physical world. IIT-Kharagpur aspires to lead this transition in India through the Benjamin Gupta School of Physical AI.”
— Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur
Prof. Chakraborty said the initiative would encourage learners to move beyond treating AI as a black box and to combine algorithmic skills with fundamental science and domain expertise.
Why it matters
Indian institutions have rapidly added AI courses and centres over the past few years, but most remain focused on software, data and language models. A dedicated school for Physical AI signals a shift towards AI that powers robots, manufacturing systems, healthcare devices and infrastructure, areas where India will need talent that understands both the code and the physics. With alumni philanthropy funding a large share of the cost, the model could also offer a template for other IITs looking to build specialised AI capacity in line with the NEP 2020 push for interdisciplinary, research-led higher education.
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