Team behind Sophia the robot eyes artificial intelligence app store

One of the scientists behind the headline-grabbing robot Sophia is now focusing on creating an app store for artificial intelligence (AI). Ben Goertzel, the chief scientist at Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, the company behind Sophia, has cofounded SingularityNET, a Swiss non-profit that hopes to bring together AI and blockchain technology in a marketplace in the cloud. The company aims to let AI developers upload their work to the cloud, where it can then be tapped by others for adding capabilities to robots such as Sophia. Blockchain is the technology used for verifying and recording transactions that is at the heart of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. "It will be a decentralised app store for AI," said Goertzel.