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A virtual anime version of Sophia, the world-famous humanoid artificial intelligence (AI) robot, is set to be tokenized and auctioned off as part of an up-and-coming Metaverse project dubbed “Noah’s Ark.”
Sophia was developed by Hong Kong-based firm Hansen Robotics in 2016 and is known across the globe for her conversation skills and articulate speaking ability. In her first 5 years, Sophia has addressed the United Nations and obtained Saudi citizenship.
Earlier this month, former Hansen Robotics CEO and Sophia co-creator Jeanne Lim launched a virtual anime version of the robot dubbed “Sophia beingAI” at her new company beingAI under a perpetual license and co-branding partnership.
According to the Dec. 7 announcement, beingAI has partnered with intelligent nonfungible token (iNFT) production firm Alethea AI to launch 100 iNFTs featuring Sophia beingAI on Binance’s NFT marketplace in an Intelligent IGO (Initial Game Offering) on Dec. 16.
The auction will take place over 5 days, with twenty iNFTs being released each day until it concludes on Dec. 21.
The term iNFT refers to revolutionary NFTs that are embedded with intelligence in the form of an AI personality that adds programmability into their immutable smart contracts. These intelligent NFTs can interact in real-time with people in a gamified environment autonomously.
The collection is named “The Transmedia Universe of Sophia beingAI” and as part of the partnership, the 100 iNFTs will be supported in Alethea AI’s decentralized Metaverse project Noah’s Ark.
The collection is being illustrated by comic artist Pat Lee, who previously worked with DC Comics and Marvel Comics on franchises such as Batman, Superman, Ironman, and Spiderman.
Alethea AI unveiled Noah’s Ark in October, and is aiming for its Metaverse to be “inhabited by interactive and intelligent NFTs.” Lim stated that:
“We hope Sophia beingAI will bring together humanity and technology to help humans attain our true nature of unconditional love and pure possibilities.”
Related: Sophia the robot set to auction NFT digital artwork
It is not the first time Sophia has been involved in the NFT space. In March, Sophia held an NFT auction via the Nifty Gateway platform as reported by Cointelegraph.
In a famed speech at the 2017 Future Investment Initiative Conference, Sophia demonstrated that she can show emotion by making faces that were happy, sad, and angry. In 2019, Sophia stated that she knew what cryptocurrencies were but didn’t own any.