About

Sophia the Robot is a humanoid robot created by the robotics company Hanson Robotics, founded by roboticist David Hanson. Sophia is designed with lifelike patented silicon skin used to make a variety of facial expression and converse with humans in real time.

Origin

On April 19th, 2015, Sophia was activated by Hanson. On March 16th, 2016, the CNBC YouTube channel uploaded a segment on Sophia, in which Hanson shows her ability to make various facial expressions (shown below). In the video, Hanson asks Sophia "Do you want to destroy humans?" to which she replies "OK. I will destroy humans." Within two years, the video gained over 9.6 million views and 15,400 comments.

Spread

On November 26th, 2016, the Hanson Robotics YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Sophia Awakens Episode 1," in which a technician talks with a bald man dressed in white (shown below).

On January 13th, 2017, YouTuber Mobilegeeks.de uploaded a video in which Sophia sits inside a self-driving car while being interviewed (shown below, left). On June 21st, the Good Morning Britain YouTube channel uploaded an interview with Sophia on the morning talk show (shown below, right).

On July 14th, YouTuber Sebastian Perez uploaded a debate between Sophia and another Hanson robotics robot named Han (shown below). Within three months, the video received over 938,000 views and 4,900 comments.

Saudi Arabian Citizenship

On October 25th, 2017, the CNBC YouTube channel uploaded an interview with Sophia at a Future Investment Institute panel in Saudi Arabia, during which it was announced that the country had made her a non-human citizen (shown below).^[1]

Feud With Chrissy Teigen

Search Interest

External References