The NEC C&C Foundation has awarded the 2026 C&C Prize to Hidetoshi Katori and to Andrew G. Barto, Richard S. Sutton and Christopher J. Watkins. The awards recognise work on optical lattice clocks and reinforcement learning.
Katori, a professor in the Department of Applied Physics at the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, was named the Group A recipient. Group B went to Barto, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Sutton, professor at the University of Alberta, and Watkins, professor at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Each group will receive JPY ¥10 million, a certificate of merit and a plaque. Established in 1985, the prize honours contributions to research and development in information processing, communications, electronic devices and related social science research.
Katori was recognised for work on the optical lattice clock, a form of atomic clock that uses optical transitions in atoms rather than microwave frequencies. The approach measures many atoms held in an optical lattice formed by laser light and aims to deliver more precise timekeeping than conventional caesium atomic clocks.
He was recognised for both proposing and demonstrating the principles behind the optical lattice clock. The foundation also cited later applications in relativistic geodesy and spacetime sensing, where gravity-related differences in clock rates can be used to measure height differences, gravitational potential and physical changes such as crustal deformation and volcanic activity.
AI recognition
The Group B award focused on reinforcement learning, an area of machine learning in which systems learn through interaction with an environment and use rewards to improve decisions over time. Barto, Sutton and Watkins were credited with helping to establish the core concepts, mathematical basis and practical algorithms that shaped the field.
Barto and Sutton were recognised for establishing central concepts and mathematical foundations. Watkins was cited in particular for devising Q-learning, an algorithm widely associated with the practical advance of reinforcement learning.
The foundation linked that body of work to a range of modern uses, including game AI, communications network control, semiconductor design, and the optimisation of logistics and energy management. It also pointed to reinforcement learning based on human feedback as one route used to improve the quality and alignment of generative AI systems.
Long-running prize
Since its launch in 1985, the C&C Prize has been presented to 85 groups, comprising 133 individuals and two teams. The award is part of the foundation's broader effort to recognise technical and scientific advances across computing and communications.
This year's selections span two fields with very different trajectories but broad influence across industry and research. Precision time measurement underpins communications networks, navigation systems, electronic transactions and scientific measurement, while reinforcement learning has become one of the best-known strands of AI research linked to autonomous decision-making.
In Katori's citation, the foundation described the work as a fusion of lasers, photonics, electronic control, and vacuum and cooling technologies. The citation for the three AI researchers said their work had a major impact on information processing and intelligent information technology.
The recipients hold positions across Japan, the US, Canada and the UK, underlining the international character of this year's awards. Watkins is based at Royal Holloway, University of London, giving the UK a place among the recognised institutions in the 2026 prize list.
The prize has recognised distinguished figures whose work has contributed to the development of computing, communications and electronics, as well as adjacent social science research related to those fields.