Carnegie Mellon’s Deepak Pathak Wins 2026 Young Investigator Award

Deepak Pathak, the Raj Reddy Associate Professor of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, has been awarded the prestigious 2026 Young Investigator Award by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). This accolade recognizes early career faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics who demonstrate exceptional potential in advancing capabilities critical to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

The ONR will allocate a total of $17 million this year to support the research of 23 university professors addressing significant naval challenges. Pathak’s project, titled “Learning To Reason via Exploration in the Open World,” aims to enhance artificial intelligence systems, enabling them to operate effectively outside of controlled environments. His research focuses on how AI can tackle complex tasks that span both digital and physical realms.

Pathak’s innovative approach seeks to redefine AI learning by encouraging autonomous exploration, self-supervised reasoning, and continuous adaptation. Rather than depending solely on static datasets, his system advocates for learning through interaction with environments. This method allows AI to improve decision-making capabilities in unpredictable situations over time. The ultimate objective is to develop AI that can generalize its learning processes more similarly to humans, drawing from real-world experiences.

Addressing Naval and Broader Challenges

The implications of Pathak’s research extend beyond naval applications. More resilient and adaptable AI systems, as proposed in his work, could significantly enhance disaster-response robots, industrial automation, and autonomous transportation. By fostering machines that can learn to reason through exploration, Pathak aims to bring AI closer to functioning safely and reliably in the open world.

At Carnegie Mellon, Pathak leads the Pathak Research Group. The team draws inspiration from psychology to explore the intersections of computer vision, machine learning, and robotics. Their goal is to design practical, adaptable systems capable of operating outside of strictly defined conditions.

In addition to his academic endeavors, Pathak is the co-founder and CEO of Skild AI. The company is focused on creating a general-purpose AI “brain” that can control any robot for various tasks, emphasizing the importance of achieving tangible, real-world impact. Currently, Skild AI is valued at over $14 billion.

The Young Investigator Program, which honors Pathak, is crucial for fostering innovation in military and civilian technology. For more information about the program, visit the ONR website.

For further inquiries, please contact Aaron Aupperlee at 412-268-9068 or via email at [email protected].