At Sotheby’s, on the 7th November 2024, history was made selling the first artwork by a humanoid robot using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for $1.1 million, surpassing its estimate of $120,000 to $180,000. This broke all auction records for art by a humanoid.

At the Digital Art Day sale, there were 27 bids for the portrait of mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing. The 64-inch by 90-inch mixed media on canvas had a hammer price of $1.1m.

“This auction is an important moment for the visual arts, where Ai-Da’s artwork brings focus on artworld and societal changes, as we grapple with the rising age of AI,” said Project Director Aidan Meller in a press statement. “The artwork “AI God” raises questions about agency, as AI gains more power.”

The press response was remarkable - according to Nexus Lexus the news story reached 2.9 billion people in 32 languages and 64 countries.