DEPLOYDatabase

Deployment

Sophia at Washington, DC, USA

Sophia is a female-presenting social humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics, activated 14 February 2016 and first shown publicly at SXSW in March 2016; known for realistic facial expressions and conversational AI, she was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship in October 2017, the first robot to receive legal personhood.

Sophia by Hanson Robotics · Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verified · Humanoids

Track Sophia at Washington, DC, USA

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Hanson Robotics androids deployed at The Smithsonian. Part of two decades of deployments at research and cultural institutions.

Exposure

Customer segment
manufacturing
Scale tier
commercial 10 99

Each exposure value carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.

Safety record

No incidents on record for Sophia at Washington, DC, USA.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-08-21
Model
Sophia
Company
Hanson Robotics
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Operator
Hanson Robotics
Status
operational
Scale at site
11 to 100 units
Site environment
mixed
Location precision
city centroid
First seen
2018-01-01
ID
80470851-40d8-4be0-a24b-f5f520c1cce5

Timeline

  1. Jan 2018
    First recorded
    Sophia first documented operating at Washington, DC, USA.
  2. Aug 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

On the deployment map

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Sophia operates in Washington, DC, USA. Explore the full verified map:

Sources (1)

  1. https://www.hansonrobotics.com/sophia-utility
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-21

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: research

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: humanoid

Sources by quality tier

1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Sophia at Washington, DC, USA.

Common questions

What is the Sophia deployment at Washington, DC, USA?
Sophia, built by Hanson Robotics, is recorded as a deployment at Washington, DC, USA on the DEPLOY registry. Hanson Robotics operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Sophia at Washington, DC, USA?
Hanson Robotics, the manufacturer of Sophia, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the Sophia deployment at Washington, DC, USA go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting January 1, 2018 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the Sophia deployment at Washington, DC, USA?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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