IIT Kharagpur has signed an MoU with Vinod Gupta and IIT Kgp Foundation, US, to set up Benjamin Gupta School of Physical AI
Of the Rs 35 crore estimated cost, Rs 12.5 crore will be contributed by the Vinod Gupta family, Rs 10 crore by an alumnus and the remaining by IIT Kharagpur.
The Benjamin Gupta School of Physical AI will work in areas, such as physics-informed machine learning, scientific AI, digital twins, intelligent robotics, autonomous systems, advanced sensing, computational engineering and AI-enabled experimentation, according to IIT Kgp. Gupta, a Life Fellow of IIT Kgp, said the initiative was personally meaningful as it honoured his son’s memory. The initiative aims to move artificial intelligence beyond data-driven algorithms and digital applications towards systems that understand, predict and interact with the physical world. The school will focus on physics-grounded intelligence, integrating AI with engineering, science, medicine, biological systems and real-world technologies. The funding will support dedicated infrastructure for the department of artificial intelligence and allied interdisciplinary academic and research activities. Its research is expected to address sectors like advanced manufacturing, energy, climate and environmental technologies, agriculture, healthcare, medical devices, infrastructure and next-generation engineering systems.