Physical AI Acceleration Project

Sitra, Espoo, Oulu, Tampere, Turku and a group of key national actors are launching a collaboration that aims to identify Finland’s strongest competitive advantages in physical AI, attract investment and speed up the emergence of new business.

The project will strengthen the national ecosystem and form a shared view of those growth areas of physical AI in which Finland has the best opportunities for international success. The project will run until June 2027.

We are launching matchmaking activities across the various thematic areas of physical AI, led by business development organisations of the four major cities. We want to strengthen the ecosystem of the physical AI field in the short term. We will do this together with companies of different sizes, investors and public-sector R&D actors.

We are also creating a physical AI roadmap. It will draw a situational picture of Finland’s best growth opportunities in the global physical AI value chain and, together with the ecosystem, define medium-term growth measures to accelerate the use and development of physical AI in Finland.

During the project, we will also organise a series of events and publish analyses to draw attention Finland’s opportunities in developing and applying physical AI.

The collaboration involves the business development organisations in the regions of Espoo, Oulu, Tampere and Turku, as well as VTT, Business Finland and AI Finland. Sitra’s funding supports the cities’ joint measures to strengthen the physical AI ecosystem and create conditions for new growth.

Physical AI refers to the use of artificial intelligence in robots, machines, and other physical systems. It is expected to transform several sectors such as industries includingy, logistics and manufacturing in the same way that software-based AI has transformed knowledge work.