Humanoid robots

Which country gave Sophia the robot citizenship?

Verified on the record

Saudi Arabia, in October 2017. Saudi Arabia granted citizenship to Sophia, the Hanson Robotics social humanoid, around her appearance at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh in October 2017. It is the only citizenship any robot holds on DEPLOY's record. Reporting at the time found that no rights attaching to the status were ever specified.

✓ Last verified Nov 21, 20174 sources

Find out instantly when it changes.

Saudi Arabia is the answer. In October 2017 the Saudi state announced that it was granting citizenship to Sophia, the social humanoid built by Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong, around her appearance at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh. Forbes described it as the first time a robot anywhere had achieved that status.

What the grant actually conferred was never spelled out. The World reported days afterward that it was not clear what rights Sophia held as a citizen, and Hanson Robotics did not answer questions about them. So the honest reading is that the citizenship is real as an announced act of state and undefined as a legal status.

On DEPLOY's record it remains the only citizenship held by any robot. Sophia later took on attributed honorary roles, including a United Nations Development Programme innovation title, but those are roles conferred by an organisation, not a nationality conferred by a state. Everything on this page is dated and attributed to its source.

Sophia at a glance

The citizenship fact and verified identity, read from the Sophia record on the registry.

The country that granted citizenship: Saudi ArabiaWikipedia / Hanson Robotics
As the record states it: Saudi Arabian citizenship in October 2017
What it is called: Sophia
Who makes it: Hanson Robotics
Type: Humanoid robot (social)
Stage on DEPLOY's record: Research and development (a social and research platform, not a deployed worker)
When it was activated: 14 February 2016

What the grant settled, and what it did not

Each column is attributed to who stated it. The grant is on the record; its legal content never was.

Confirmed on the record

Saudi Arabia, October 2017

The Sophia record carries the citizenship as a dated fact, and two independent outlets place the announcement around her appearance at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. It is the only robot citizenship on DEPLOY's record.

Attributed to the Saudi state

An announced act, not a published statute

The grant was announced by the Saudi Ministry for Culture and Information rather than enacted through a published naturalisation process. That framing is attributed to the ministry's own announcement, not an independent legal finding.

Where it stands

No rights were ever specified

The World reported days afterward that it was not clear what rights Sophia held as a citizen, and that Hanson Robotics did not respond to questions about them. Nothing on the record has settled the question since.

How Sophia reached that status

The public milestones on the record, each dated and sourced, newest first.

Nov 21, 2017 (as reported)Named a UNDP Innovation Champion, the first non-human to hold a UN titleAttributed role
The United Nations Development Programme named Sophia an Innovation Champion at a sustainable-development business forum in Singapore, reported as the first time a non-human received a UN title. This is an attributed honorary role, not a citizenship, and no state was involved in conferring it.
Yicai Global2017-11-23 Wikipedia2017-11-21
Oct 25, 2017 (as reported)Saudi Arabia grants Sophia citizenship at the Future Investment Initiative in RiyadhReported
Saudi Arabia announced that it was granting citizenship to Sophia around her appearance at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh, in what Forbes described as the first time a robot anywhere had achieved that status. The announcement is attributed to the Saudi Ministry for Culture and Information. Reporting at the time found that no rights attaching to the status were specified.
Forbes2017-11-07 The World (PRX)2017-11-01
Mar 15, 2016 (as reported)First public appearance at SXSW in AustinReported
Sophia was shown publicly for the first time at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, in mid-March 2016, attributed to Hanson Robotics. This is the debut recorded on the Sophia registry record and its cited source.
Wikipedia2016-03-15
Feb 14, 2016 (as reported)Sophia is activated by Hanson RoboticsReported
Hanson Robotics activated Sophia on 14 February 2016 in Hong Kong. The activation date is carried on the Sophia registry record's own keyFacts and its cited source.
Wikipedia2016-02-14

How we know this

Sophia's identity and the citizenship fact on this page are read live from the verified Hanson Robotics Sophia record on the DEPLOY registry. The milestones below it are each dated and attributed to the outlet that reported them. Here are the sources behind them.

Wikipedia / Hanson Robotics Yicai Global2017-11-23 Forbes2017-11-07 The World (PRX)2017-11-01

The citizenship grant is attributed to the Saudi state, and the finding that no rights were specified is attributed to the reporters who asked. DEPLOY scopes the answer to its record and links every source.

Common questions

Which country gave Sophia citizenship?

Saudi Arabia. The Saudi state announced the grant in October 2017, around Sophia's appearance at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh. Forbes described it as the first time a robot anywhere had achieved that status, and on DEPLOY's record it is still the only one.

Is Sophia still a Saudi citizen?

Nothing on DEPLOY's record shows the grant being rescinded, and no state has granted a robot a comparable status since. But because the rights attaching to it were never specified, there is no defined legal status to lose or keep, which is why the question has no clean answer.

Was Sophia the first robot to get citizenship?

Forbes reported the 2017 grant as the first time a robot anywhere had achieved that status, and no earlier grant of citizenship to a robot appears on DEPLOY's record. No later one does either, so it remains the only case the record holds.

What is Sophia the robot?

Sophia is a social humanoid robot built by Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong, activated on 14 February 2016 and first shown publicly at South by Southwest in Austin the following month. On DEPLOY's record she sits at the research and development stage: a social and research platform, not a deployed worker.

What rights does Sophia have as a citizen?

None were ever specified. The World reported days after the announcement that it was not clear what rights Sophia held, and that Hanson Robotics did not respond to questions about them. DEPLOY's record carries the grant as an announced act of state, not as a defined legal status.

Have any other robots received citizenship?

No other robot on DEPLOY's record has been granted citizenship by a state. Sophia was later named a United Nations Development Programme innovation champion, reported as the first non-human to hold a UN title, but that is an honorary role conferred by an organisation, not a nationality.

Keep reading

Which physical-AI companies are worth the most? Valuations ranked.Answer Comparisons What AI actually drives each robot? AI stacks comparedAnswer Comparisons Which company is the leader in humanoid robotics?Answer Comparisons Which country is no. 1 in robotics?Answer Comparisons All verified answersHub Every standing question DEPLOY tracks.

Ask the registry

Track this answer

Find out instantly when it changes.

Canonical URL: /which-country-gave-sophia-the-robot-citizenship · machine-readable mirror: /which-country-gave-sophia-the-robot-citizenship.md