Bits gave AI a voice. Atoms will give it hands. The next chapter of AI is about doing, not just thinking.

We define physical AI broadly as systems that sense, understand, or act on the physical world. From the factory floor to the frontier, if it touches atoms rather than just bits, it counts.

Where has AI not yet arrived? Which applications are being overlooked, and which technical problems remain unsolved? If you're building the answer, come show us.

Squarepoint Ventures, Vine Ventures, and MIT-CHIEF are bringing together founders, researchers, professors, and investors at MIT for an evening focused on what comes next in physical AI. Hear from leading researchers and builders, discover early-stage companies before they break out, and meet others working at the frontier of AI and the physical world.

Early-stage startups and aspiring founders are encouraged to apply. A handful of selected teams will pitch live: 3 minutes each, plus a quick Q&A.

Apply to pitch by October 11 (AoE): Apply here

Physical AI spans a broad range of technologies and industries, including:

  • Machines that move: robots, humanoids, drones, and autonomous vehicles

  • Industries that run the world: manufacturing, logistics, construction, energy, agriculture, and healthcare

  • Science and discovery: lab automation, materials, and AI-run experiments

  • Sensing and devices: multimodal perception, wearables, AR, and smart devices

  • The stack underneath: world models, simulation, data collection, edge inference, chips, and safety

  • Frontier AI: recursive self-improvement, AI that helps design its own chips, and the compute and power behind it all. Even the frontier runs on atoms.

Whether you're building, joining, or backing the next generation of physical AI companies, you'll find your people here.

Agenda

  • 6:30 PM · Door opens

  • 6:45–6:55 PM · Opening remarks from Squarepoint Ventures, Vine Ventures, and MIT-CHIEF

  • 6:55–7:10 PM · Keynote: Ben Burchfiel (CTO of Walden Robotics)

  • 7:10–7:30 PM · Lightning talks: Alon Kosowsky (CTO of Tutor Intelligence), Paul Liang (Assistant Professor at the MIT Media Lab and MIT EECS), Chuchu Fan (Associate Professor in MIT AeroAstro and LIDS)

  • 7:30–8:10 PM · Startup pitch showcase

  • 8:10–9:30 PM · Networking reception with food and refreshments

Speakers

Ben Burchfiel is the co-founder and CTO of Walden Robotics, which develops general-purpose robots for manufacturing that continuously learn and improve on the job. His work focuses on the intersection of AI and Robotics; previously, at Toyota Research Institute, Ben led research teams responsible for projects including Diffusion Policy, UMI, OpenVLA, and LBM1.0.Alon Kosowsky is the co-founder and CTO of Tutor Intelligence. Driving the development of industrially viable physical AI through a real-world data collection and deployment flywheel, Tutor powers both robot intelligence and national supply chain ops in one motion. Prior to founding Tutor Intelligence, Alon was a researcher in MIT's Improbable AI Lab and worked at Amazon Robotics, Realtime Robotics, and Symbotic.

Chuchu Fan is an Associate Professor in MIT AeroAstro and the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS). She directs the REALM Lab, which uses formal methods, machine learning, and control theory to design and verify safe autonomous systems.

Paul Liang is an Assistant Professor at the MIT Media Lab and MIT EECS, where he directs the Multisensory Intelligence group. His group is building the foundations of self-evolving multisensory AI: systems that learn and reason across many senses, from vision and language to touch and smell, and keep getting better through ongoing interaction with data, environments, and people.

Organizers

Squarepoint Ventures is the venture arm of Squarepoint, a global quantitative investment firm. It takes a long-term view and backs companies across multiple rounds at both venture and growth stages.

Vine Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm, backing the next generation of technical founders in Boston, New York, Tel Aviv, and San Francisco.

Community Partners

MIT-CHIEF is the MIT-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum, a nonprofit student organization founded at MIT in 2011. Through its annual conference, seminars, and startup programs, it connects scientists, entrepreneurs, and startup teams across the US and China.

Campus Deep Tech accelerates innovation by connecting entrepreneurial researchers and startups with a community of peers across universities, along with the resources, investors, and industry partners they need to succeed. Operating across more than 22 universities in the Northeastern United States, CDT has built a network of over 2,000 students developing innovative technologies and supports founders from the ideation phase through Series A.TNT is a pre-seed accelerator and founder community focused on AI and deep tech startups emerging from MIT and Harvard, helping ambitious teams compress years of progress into weeks through funding, mentorship, and investor access. It combines a highly curated founder network with an intensive accelerator program designed to support company building, fundraising, and scaling from the earliest stages.

Space is limited, so register early. If your plans change, please update your RSVP so someone else can take your spot.