September 2, 2024

Meet Sophia: World's first robot citizen

Image: Instagram/realsophiarobot

Sophia is a female social humanoid robot built in 2016 by Hong Kong’s Hanson Robotics. She was activated on February 14, 2016. 

Image: Instagram/realsophiarobot

Her first public appearance was in Austin, Texas, United States at South by Southwest (SXSW) in March 2016. 

Image: Instagram/realsophiarobot

She was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship in October 2017, making her the world’s first robot citizen. 

Image: Instagram/realsophiarobot

She is also the first robot and non-human to be given a United Nations title as she was named the United Nations Development Programme's first Innovation Champion in November 2017. 

Image: Instagram/realsophiarobot

Her source code is almost 70% open source, available for free usage and editing, according to her founder David Hanson.

Image: Instagram/realsophiarobot

Hanson has said that Sophia was designed to interact with humans and gain social skills. 

Sophia has displayed the ability to draw. A self-portrait made by her was sold at an auction for nearly $700,000 in 2021. 

She has been interviewed several times and has made many public appearances. 

In 2024, she gave the commencement address at D'Youville University in Buffalo, New York in the form of an interview. 

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