Robot model
Sophia
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;…
- Manufacturer
- Hanson Robotics
- Form factor
- humanoid
- Maturity
- research
- Lifecycle
- active
- Deployments
- 4
The verified answer
As of Oct 2026, DEPLOY verifies Sophia, a humanoid by Hanson Robotics (research): 4 verified deployments on record. 1 source back the record.
Overview
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.
Verified vs. claimed
- Maturity stage
- research(Lab-stage only; no commercial or public deployment reported.)
- Sources on file
- View all sources →
Key facts
Form factor
Maker
Activation date
Citizenship
Specs
Note
Class
Debut
Data & sources
Web sources
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Pricing
No verified price is on record for Sophia. Physical-AI systems are often sold through enterprise contracts or operated as a service rather than at a public list price.
Deployments (4)
- Sophia at Dubai, UAEoperational
Sophia took center stage at the Global AI Show at Grand Hyatt Dubai, April 16-17, 2024.
- Sophia at Atlanta, Georgia, USAoperational
Hanson Robotics androids deployed at the US CDC.
- Sophia at Washington, DC, USAoperational
Hanson Robotics androids deployed at The Smithsonian.
- Sophia at Cambridge, United Kingdomoperational
Hanson Robotics androids deployed at Cambridge University.
Sophia on the deployment map
View the global mapWhere Sophia is verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJun 24, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedApr 16, 2024
at Dubai, UAE
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2020
at Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2018
at Washington, DC, USA
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2018
at Cambridge, United Kingdom
Safety record
No incidents on record for Sophia.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Sources (1)
Common questions
What is Sophia?
How much does Sophia cost?
Is Sophia actually deployed in the real world?
Who makes Sophia?
Where is Sophia deployed?
Can you buy Sophia?
What are alternatives to Sophia?
How does Sophia compare to Walker S2?
Is Sophia a top humanoid?
What is Sophia's maturity stage?
Is Sophia safe?
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-28
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-06-28
Maturity + lifecycle
Maturity stage: research
Lifecycle: active
Architectural position
Cohort: humanoid
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- knowledge-base
- Knowledge base
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Sophia.Recent coverage
Sophia in third-party press
Attention vs reality over time
Media mentions per month (area) against verified deployment events (dots). A press spike over a flat deployment line is the hype gap, drawn over time.
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Sophia from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Scaling Robotaxi: Pony.ai CFO Leo Wang on Unit Economics, Europe and What Comes Next
In a recent episode of the Ride AI podcast, Pony.ai co-founder and CFO Leo Wang joined host and Ride AI editor-in-chief Sophia Tung for a wide-ranging conversation on what it…
Sophia Space and Redwire Team Up to Advance Orbital Data Center Infrastructure
Companies sign MOU to explore collaboration on deployable structures, spacecraft integration and scalable architectures for in-orbit Artificial Intelligence and edge computing LAS…
‘Physics is not simply a collection of equations’ for this UL researcher
Dr Maria Alhajji discusses her energy storage research and the Sophia Project, a physics outreach initiative at UL that engages school students. Read more: ‘Physics is not simply…
Friends and rights groups worry for Chinese #MeToo activist’s life after jail
Journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin, who has been behind bars since 2021, is due to be released on Friday.
Another baby girl is joining the Rams ‘Ramily’ after star player’s heartwarming Instagram announcement
Los Angeles Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson and wife Sophia announced they are expecting their first child, a baby girl, as Kelly Stafford celebrated the newest addition to the…
Fire chief says arson possible cause of Coal City tunnel fire
COAL CITY, W.Va. (WOWK) — Arson is a suspected cause of a fire that has been burning inside a Raleigh County train tunnel since Saturday. Coal City VFD Fire Chief Zach Honaker…
An unusual $300M deal aims to fund orbital computing
Sophia Space and SLI, an aerospace leasing venture based in Washington, D.C., say they’ve agreed on a $300 million asset-financing framework that will support the creation of a…
Sophia Space, SLI Set Terms for $300M Satellite Leasing Deal
Orbital compute startup Sophia Space and space asset leasing company SLI have set terms for a $300M asset-financing deal. The post Sophia Space, SLI Set Terms for $300M Satellite…
Alexander Zverev’s girlfriend Sophia Thomalla drops 4-word flex after US Open win
Sophia Thomalla celebrated boyfriend Alexander Zverev’s U.S. Open win over Ben Shelton with a powerful message on social media.
‘I Play Rocky’ Review: Anthony Ippolito Is an Endearing Pre-Stardom Sylvester Stallone in Peter Farrelly’s Crowd-Pleasing Making-Of Drama
AnnaSophia Robb, Jay Duplass and Matt Dillon also star in this celebration of the modestly budgeted boxing movie that became an indelible cultural phenomenon.
Train tunnel catches fire near Coal City
COAL CITY, W.Va. (WOWK) — Crews are assessing the situation after a train tunnel near Coal City in Raleigh County caught fire. According to a Saturday Facebook post from Coal City…
Tokyo family marks 30 years since daughter’s unsolved murder
Authorities expressed determination to solve the Sophia University student's murder despite obstacles resulting from the passage of time.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /models/hanson-sophia.md
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/models/9bd21ff6-8eea-4b26-9b63-9bf9e8de153e
- Revision history: /models/hanson-sophia/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Video
#sophiarobot #hansonrobotics
A quick teaser of the newest and most realistic humanoid robot yet from David Hanson and the team at Hanson Robotics. Meet Jules at Wired NextFest.
Meet Sophia the Robot and follow her journey as she travels and learns about the world. Sophia is Hanson Robotics’ most advanced human-like robot, created by c
Meet Little Sophia, Hanson Robotics newest consumer robot. Little Sophia is a tutorial companion that teaches STEM, coding, and Artificial intelligence (AI), wi
Hanson Robotics, creator of human-like robots and smart software, introduced “Han” at the Global Sources Mobile Electronics show held in Hong Kong from April 18
We bring robots to life. Hanson Robotics is an AI company devoted to research, robotics and the creation of the world’s most remarkable and lifelike humanoids
Doctor David Hanson introduces robots with extremely natural expressions that have human like responses that are intended to build relationships with robots to
What's inside a Hanson Robot? Awesome! #humanoid AI robot! #hansonrobotics #AI #airobot #chatgpt #gpt3 #airobot #airobot #sentient #mechatronics Speech re
Reality vs attention
Sophia draws attention at the 96th percentile but verifies reality at the 84th percentile among humanoids. Hype Gap +11.6, 43rd widest among humanoids.
Analysis
Strong recent media coverage and press activity. Thin deployment record; scale validation still in progress.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Oct 3, 2026