Schoolchildren and students will be taught how to create AI robots

Yandex is launching a new educational direction for teaching AI to schoolchildren and students-robotics (physical AI). More than 200 thousand schoolchildren and students will take part in free programs in the 2026-2027 academic year. According to Daria Kozlova, director of Yandex Education, the initiatives are aimed at training a new generation of specialists capable of creating intelligent robots to perform complex practical tasks in manufacturing, logistics and other fields.

In 2026, an educational platform on AI robotics for children from 8 years old will be launched. Students will learn the basics of algorithms, working with sensors, computer vision and more from scratch through step—by-step instructions, game formats, competitions and communication with like-minded people. The company will also release compact delivery robots for practical training.

In addition, Yandex Lyceum will open 50 free robotics clubs in partner schools, and teenagers from the age of 13 will be able to enroll in them. In three months, students will delve into the topic of physical AI and learn how to program AI robots on real devices.

Yandex, together with leading Russian universities, will launch a new program for students in the 2026 academic year — Physical AI Garage. The initiative is aimed at training specialists in the field of physical AI. Five universities have become partners of the program — ITMO, HSE, MIPT, MEPhI, MAI. The focus will be on practice: part of the training modules will take place in Yandex offices, where students will work on real-world tasks together with the company's experts.

In addition, in the fall of 2026, Yandex Education will launch a new unified module on physical AI, which will be available to students of 27 universities in 18 regions of the country.

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