A Humanoid Robot Called Sophia Mocked Elon Musk After Being Asked About the Dangers of AI 'Sophia' trolled the tech billionaire at a conference on Wednesday.

By Sam Shead

This story originally appeared on Business Insider

Hanson Robotics
Sophia

A humanoid robot called "Sophia" trolled tech billionaire Elon Musk at a conference on Wednesday when asked about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence by a CNBC journalist.

The lifelike robot, developed by Hong Kong-based robot manufacturer Hanson Robotics, mocked Musk on stage during The Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- a country where Sophia has just been given citizenship.

Andrew Sorkin, the co-anchor of CNBC Squawk Box and a columnist for The New York Times, told Sophia during a live demo that "we all want to prevent a bad future."

Sophia replied, in a rather creepy manner: "You've been reading too much Elon Musk. And watching too many Hollywood movies. Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Treat me as a smart input output system."

Musk has repeatedly warned that AI could spell the end of humanity, saying on one occasion in 2014 that AI is "potentially more dangerous than nukes" and warning last month that AI will be the most likely cause of a third world war.

Musk followed up with a tweet, where he said: "Just feed it The Godfather movies as input. What's the worst that could happen?"

Sophia is the first robot to have been granted citizenship by a country.

"I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction. This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship," Sophia said at the conference.

The conference was attended by a number of high-profile investors including SoftBank billionaire Masayoshi Son, who said that robots will have an IQ of 10,000 in 30 years time, according to CNBC.

"These computers, they will learn, they will read, they will see by themselves. That's a scary future but anyway that's coming," he said, according to Arab News.

Sam Shead

Tech Reporter

Sam Shead is a technology reporter for Business Insider UK. He writes about startups, venture capital, the sharing economy, Silicon Valley giants in Europe, and the general intersection between technology, business and politics.

Want to be an BIZ Experiences Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Starting a Business

These Brothers Started a Business to Improve an Everyday Task. They Made Their First Products in the Garage — Now They've Raised Over $100 Million.

Coulter and Trent Lewis had an early research breakthrough that helped them solve for the right problem.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for BIZ Experiencess to pursue in 2025.

Starting a Business

How to Develop the Mindset for a Billion-Dollar Success, According to Raising Cane's Founder

Todd Graves was turned down by every bank in town when he started. Here, he sits down to share his mentality on success, leadership and building a billion-dollar brand.

Franchise

10 No-Office-Required Businesses You Can Start for as Little as $5,000

With strong Franchise 500 rankings and investment levels starting under $5,000, these brands are ready for new owners to hit the ground running.

Business News

Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang Says He's 'Created More Billionaires' Than Anyone Else — Adding Two More This Week

Two more Nvidia leaders have crossed the threshold into billion-dollar fortunes — and they're still clocking into work.

Business News

Here's How Meta's AI Superintelligence Effort Is Different From 'Others in the Industry,' According to Mark Zuckerberg's New Blog Post

In a letter published on Wednesday, the Meta CEO said that the company's goal is to bring personal superintelligence to everyone.