Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have launched a joint research center to develop physical AI-technology that lets robots and machines perceive their environment and act in the real world. The Human-Centered Physical AI Interaction Research Center (PAIR-HCI Center), housed within MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), begins full-scale cooperation this month with funding from South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation (NRF). The five-year project, running from July 2025 to December 2030, aims to pool the research capabilities of both institutions to create human-centered physical AI interaction technology that people can trust and use.
The center opened in May and will operate as a collaborative space for regular research meetings, mid- to long-term visiting research, joint experiment design, researcher exchanges, and joint symposia. The project is part of South Korea's overseas excellence research institute cooperation hub initiative, which funds Research collaborations with top global institutions.
Early research exchanges and a joint workshop
In May, a team led by GIST AI Professor Kim Seung-jun spent a month at MIT CSAIL sharing research results and technology trends. The discussions covered software-defined vehicles, autonomous driving, robots, extended reality, and inclusive interfaces, and the teams mapped out directions for follow-up joint research.
From July 6 to 10, the two universities held a joint workshop with MIT researchers who traveled to Korea for the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2026) in Seoul. The workshop reinforced the collaboration and set the stage for the center's multi-year agenda.
Expanding to real-world physical AI applications
The two universities plan to broaden the scope of research to real-world systems, including collaborative robots, autonomous driving cars, humanoids, and mobile extended reality (XR). These application areas reflect the center's focus on physical AI that interacts directly with people and environments, rather than remaining confined to digital simulations.
Why this matters for Science and Research professionals
For scientists and engineers working in robotics, autonomous systems, and human-computer interaction, the center offers a concrete example of how AI for Science & Research is moving from digital models to physical applications. The PAIR-HCI Center's structure-combining long-term visiting research, joint experiments, and regular workshops-provides a model for international research partnerships that can speed the translation of AI advances into trustworthy physical systems. With government-backed funding through 2030, the initiative also signals sustained investment in physical AI, an area where commercial and industrial demand is rising.
Your membership also unlocks:
