Saudi Arabia Gives Citizenship to a Robot
- Migrant laborers can’t become citizens; android Sophia can
- Saudi conference also saw promotion of $500b new desert city
The Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, on Oct. 24, 2017.
Photographer: FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
A robot with Saudi citizenship? It’s the latest surreal scene from the kingdom’s “Davos in the Desert,” where Saudi Arabia’s leaders have been attempting to impress their economic ambitions upon the rest of the world.
In a three-day event that has already seen the country announce its intent to build an entirely new city -- called Neom -- from scratch, the announcement that a robot named Sophia has been granted Saudi citizenship stands apart.