AI and NFTs: How Technology Reshaped the Art Market

In March 2021, Christie's opened bidding on Beeple's 'Everydays' at $100. Two weeks later, the sale closed at $69,346,250, a record for an NFT artwork. Before that, NFTs were discussed only in specialized circles among digital artists and internet law enthusiasts. Afterward, they became a fleeting trend. In October 2024, history repeated at Sotheby's, not Christie's. This time, the artist was Ai-DA, a humanoid robot powered by AI. The work, 'A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing,' a mixed-media painting measuring 150x230cm, was estimated at $120,000–$180,000 but sold for $1.1 million. The article argues that while the NFT boom centered on the technology behind the work, the Ai-DA sale centers on the artist itself—the robot—rather than the artwork or medium. The author suggests that if the artist were a human named John, Marcel, Mario, or Yuan, the auction result would likely have been closer to the estimate. The record sale may serve either as a cultural consecration of contemporary myths or as a communication strategy to popularize a technology. The Italian public debate on art, distracted by names and nominations, has offered many invectives but few reflections. Stefano Monti, partner at Monti&Taft, provides the analysis.