With the rise of large language models and generative AI, researchers have spent the past few years figuring out how to apply that technology to robotics. For many, the answer is physical intelligence, the next major breakthrough for the robotics industry. At the 2025 Robotics Summit & Expo at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, MIT CSAIL Director Daniela Rus will give a keynote presentation on the topic.
Physical Intelligence is achieved when the ability of artificial intelligence to understand text, images, signals, and other information enables physical machines such as robots to better interact with their environments, objects, and people. To achieve effective physical intelligence, the industry needs energy-efficient AI systems that can run reliably on robots, sensors, and other edge devices.
In her keynote on May 1, Rus will discuss the challenges of transformer-based foundation AI models. She will also introduce alternative physics-based models and explain how they achieve performance efficiently.
Rus is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT. Her research interests include robotics, AI, and machine learning and their applications toward a better world.
In addition, Rus is a senior visiting fellow at MITRE Corp.; a MacArthur Fellow; and a fellow of ACM, AAAI, AAAS, and IEEE. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Rus is the recipient of the Engelberger Award for robotics, the IEEE RAS Technical Award, and the John Scott Medal. Rus earned her Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University.
More about the Robotics Summit & Expo
The Robotics Summit & Expo will bring together more than 5,000 attendees focused on building robots for various commercial industries. Attendees can gain insights into the latest enabling technologies, engineering best practices, emerging trends, and more.
In addition to Rus, the keynote speakers on April 30 and May 1 will include:
- Aaron Saunders, the chief technology officer at Boston Dynamics
- James Kuffner, CTO of Symbotic
- Aaron Parness, director of applied science in robotics and AI at Amazon Robotics
- Dr. Aadeel Akhtar, the founder and CEO of PSYONIC
The event will feature more than 50 educational sessions in tracks on AI, design and development, enabling technologies, healthcare, and logistics. The Engineering Theater on the show floor will also feature presentations by industry experts.
The expo hall will have over 200 exhibitors showcasing the latest enabling technologies, products, and services that can help robotics engineers throughout their development journeys.
The Robotics Summit also offers numerous networking opportunities, a Career Fair, a robotics development challenge, the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards Gala, and more.
Co-located with the event is DeviceTalks Boston, the premier event for medical technology professionals, currently in its tenth year. Both events attract engineering and business professionals from a broad range of healthcare and medical technology backgrounds.
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