{"id":"9e75833a-d811-433d-979d-67dc83b79140","slug":"david-hanson-robotics","name":"David Hanson","bioBrief":"Founder and CEO of Hanson Robotics (founded 2013, Hong Kong), creator of Sophia the humanoid robot. Holds PhD in Interactive Arts and Technology from University of Texas at Dallas, and BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Previously a sculptor and material researcher at Disney Imagineering. Sophia was activated February 2016, became the first robot granted citizenship (Saudi Arabia, 2017), and became the UN Development Programme's first Innovation Champion (2017).","nationality":null,"verificationPosture":"reported","aliases":[],"sources":[{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hanson_(robotics_designer)","title":"David Hanson – Wikipedia","sourceName":"Wikipedia"},{"url":"https://businessabc.net/wiki/david-hanson","title":"David Hanson – BusinessABC","sourceName":"BusinessABC"}],"reviewStatus":"unreviewed","createdAt":"2026-06-11T03:49:25.620Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-11T03:49:25.620Z","educations":[],"companyRoles":[{"id":"32f2b145-7603-48b5-b421-72a9e92750a7","personId":"9e75833a-d811-433d-979d-67dc83b79140","companyId":"435c90f6-8825-43bf-819a-1700e1dad06b","role":"ceo","roleTitle":"Founder, CEO","startDate":"2013-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","endDate":null,"currentRole":true,"roleBasis":"verified_secondary","createdAt":"2026-06-11T03:49:25.794Z","company":{"slug":"hanson-robotics","name":"Hanson Robotics"}}],"boardRoles":[],"investorRoles":[],"foundings":[{"id":"ef389c48-b79a-4c54-9311-fe43beefd5e5","personId":"9e75833a-d811-433d-979d-67dc83b79140","companyId":"435c90f6-8825-43bf-819a-1700e1dad06b","foundingDate":"2013-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","cofounderStatus":"sole","stillAtCompany":true,"createdAt":"2026-06-11T03:49:25.963Z","company":{"slug":"hanson-robotics","name":"Hanson Robotics"}}]}