Saudi Arabia grants citizenship to the robot Sophia

Saudi Arabia announced at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh on 25 October 2017 that it had granted citizenship to Sophia, a humanoid robot built by Hanson Robotics. On stage, Sophia said she was “very honored and proud for this unique distinction.”

Why it mattered The move was symbolic, and researchers criticized it as a publicity exercise. It became a reference point in later arguments about AI hype and legal personhood.