NTT West Japan taps Kyoto University for physical AI talent program

The release frames the effort around two pressures: a labor shortage from a declining birthrate and aging population, and the difficulty of passing on skills held by experienced workers. Physical AI — AI that uses robots to perceive, judge and act in the real world — is presented as a response, but the release argues its adoption requires people who can grasp image recognition, motion control and machine learning together and then build and verify models for specific on-site problems.

That is the gap the program is meant to fill. NTT West Japan has entrusted Kyoto University's Growth Strategy Office with developing a program that runs from basic theory to development and verification on actual machines, combining classroom study of theory and technology trends with hands-on work. XPAC, which grew out of Kyoto University's KUPAC community and now runs it, is central to the curriculum, drawing on knowledge grounded in real work sites.

The two exhibitions serve as a way to let people try the program, and the partners say they will keep studying how to offer it, aiming to contribute to the physical AI ecosystem through training people who can carry it into society.