Brain Science × AI Community
Bridging neuroscience research and AI engineering, in Japan and beyond.
Overview
The Brain Science × AI Community (BSxAI) connects brain science researchers with AI engineers, building an ecosystem where cutting-edge neuroscience and applied AI amplify each other. The community was established under Beyond AI Research Promotion Organization (a joint SoftBank and University of Tokyo initiative, founded May 2020) and is today operated by the ASI Consortium within the Beyond AI Technology Research Association (BAICIP). It has grown to include leading labs from UTokyo, OIST, RIKEN and others, alongside industry engineers and entrepreneurs.
Our dual mission: advance scientific understanding of intelligence, and accelerate the translation of discoveries into technologies that benefit society.
Please note: the Beyond AI Research Promotion Organization (which established the community) and the Beyond AI Technology Research Association / BAICIP (which operates it today, through the ASI Consortium) are two separate organizations.
Mission
🧬Advance the Science
Encourage interdisciplinary research at the BSxAI intersection, supporting cutting-edge publications, seminars, and cross-border collaborations.
🚀Apply to Society
Generate business proposals from community activities and support the transition of promising research into applied technologies addressing real challenges.
🤝Foster Collaboration
Build bridges via workshops, seminars, Slack communities, and networking events: an ecosystem where ideas flow freely across institutions.
🌏Think Globally
Rooted in Japan's world-class neuroscience ecosystem, BSxAI grows beyond borders, sharing innovations and welcoming collaborators worldwide.
Operated by & Members
The community was established under the Beyond AI Research Promotion Organization (SoftBank × University of Tokyo, founded May 2020) and is today operated by the ASI Consortium within the Beyond AI Technology Research Association (BAICIP). Members come from across academia and industry:
...and many others across academia and industry.
Research Themes
Our community spans a broad set of directions, united by the conviction that brain science and AI need each other.
Reinforcement Learning & Basal Ganglia
Digital brain models and dopamine-based learning rules linking biological reward circuits with modern RL. Runs on the Fugaku Supercomputer.
Organoid Neural Networks
Biological neuron cultures and brain organoids as computing substrates, bridging wet-lab science and AI for medicine and drug discovery.
Brain-Computer Interface
Novel interfaces between neural signals and digital systems, enabling new forms of human-AI interaction and augmented cognition.
Free Energy Principle
Mathematical frameworks describing how neural circuits minimize free energy, a foundation for next-generation probabilistic AI.
Computational Psychiatry
Quantitative models to understand and treat psychiatric disorders, from depression and anxiety to schizophrenia and ADHD.
LLM × Knowledge Extraction
Integrating large language models with RAG pipelines and brain-signal processing for adaptive cognitive and behavioral feedback.
Drug Discovery
AI-assisted target identification and personalized medicine inspired by brain chemistry, organoids, and neural biology.
Symbiotic Intelligence
How intelligence emerges through interaction, from decoding emotions in rat brain signals to collective neural assemblies.
AI × Biological Data
Integrating genomics, transcriptomics, and brain imaging with AI tools, connecting omics data to neuroscience at scale.
Research interests reported by participants at the 1st BSxAI Workshop (2025).
Events & Timeline
A running log of workshops, seminars, and collaborative sessions since 2024. Detail links will be added to each entry over time.
- May 2026MilestoneBSxAI Community joins the ASI Consortium.
- Dec 5, 2025Report2025 Highlights Report published (SoftBank Cloud Technology Blog).
- 2025PreprintBrain-Inspired Learning Model (OIST × ISIR/CNRS × SoftBank, Fugaku Supercomputer).
- Oct 1, 2025WorkshopIndustry-Academia Workshop: "Brain/MINDS 2.0 × Super Intelligence" (Ito Hall, University of Tokyo).
- May 28, 2025WebinarIlya Kulyatin (Founder, TAI / Tokyo AI Community): "Tokyo as a Global AI Hub."
- Mar 25, 2025Workshop1st Brain Science × AI Workshop: "Neuroscience Meets AI" (100+ participants, Takeshiba HQ, Tokyo).
- Jan 22, 2025SeminarDr. Akihiro Funamizu (UTokyo): "Digital Brain & Mouse Digital Twin: Applications of Animal Neural Activity."
- Dec 11, 2024SeminarDr. Aurelio Cortese (ATR): "Decoded Neurofeedback & Brain-AI Integration."
- Dec 8, 2024Report2024 Annual Report published (SoftBank Cloud Technology Blog).
- Nov 1, 2024SeminarDr. Satoshi Oota (RIKEN): "A Biomechanics Approach for Elucidating Neuromotor Functions Using the Rodent Digital Twin."
- 2024CommunityCommunity infrastructure & outreach: Slack channel, student outreach (UTokyo, Kamiyama), Masanori Son Scholarship support, MindBoost prototyping.
- Jul 24-27, 2024ConferenceNEURO2024: BSxAI members delivered co-authored presentations at Japan's largest neuroscience conference.
- Mar 8, 2024SeminarTakuya Isomura, Ph.D (RIKEN): "Bayesian Mechanics of Self-Organizing Systems."
- Mar 2, 2024SeminarProf. Yoshiho Ikeuchi (UTokyo): "Emerging Functionality of Cultured Neurons."
- Jan 26, 2024FoundingProf. Kenji Doya (OIST): "Brain Sciences × AI" (inaugural seminar).
Publications & News
Brain-Inspired Learning Models Based on Basal Ganglia Biology & Dopamine-Based Reinforcement Learning
A preprint from the BSxAI collaborative network introduces a brain-inspired learning model grounded in the biology of the basal ganglia, using dopamine-based reinforcement learning rules for efficient, biologically plausible computation. Validated on large-scale benchmarks and run on Japan's Fugaku Supercomputer, with applications in neuromorphic AI, brain-computer interfaces, and next-generation RL.
2025 Highlights Report
The 1st Workshop (100+ participants), the industry-academia event at Ito Hall, and the preprint milestone. Published in the SoftBank Cloud Technology Blog. Read →
2024 Annual Report
The founding-year recap: seminar highlights, researcher profiles, and the MindBoost concept. Published in the SoftBank Cloud Technology Blog. Read →
What's Next
🏆2nd BSxAI Workshop
From Research to Real-World Problems: translating professor projects into industry-ready collaborations with clear owners, actions, and deadlines.
🌏International Expansion
Growing the community beyond Japan, sharing BSxAI innovations internationally and welcoming collaborators from global brain science × AI networks.
Contact
Whether you are a neuroscientist, AI researcher, engineer, or entrepreneur, there is a place for you in BSxAI. Join our network, attend our next event, or reach out to collaborate on research.
GRP-Brain-Science@g.softbank.co.jp
Organized by the BSxAI Community, operated by the ASI Consortium within the Beyond AI Technology Research Association (BAICIP).