Christie’s — the iconic auction house long at the center of the high-end art world — made headlines again with its first auction devoted entirely to artificial intelligence–generated art. Titled “Augmented Intelligence,” the online sale concluded on March 5, 2025, with total sales of $728,784, exceeding its original estimate of about $600,000 and signaling strong market interest in AI art.
The 34-lot sale was led by Refik Anadol’s Machine Hallucinations – ISS Dreams – A (2021), a dynamic work visualizing data from the International Space Station. It fetched $277,200, surpassing its high estimate of $200,000. Collectors also showed enthusiasm for works by Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, whose Embedding Study 1 & 2 sold for $94,500 — above its expected range.
Christie’s reported a strong sell-through rate, with about 88 % of lots finding buyers, and highlighted a new generation of bidders: roughly 48 % of participants were Millennials or Gen Z, and 37 % were new to Christie’s auctions. Cryptocurrency payments were accepted for the majority of lots, reflecting shifting preferences in art buying.
However, the sale did not go off without controversy. In the weeks leading up to the event, thousands of artists signed an open letter urging Christie’s to cancel the auction, arguing that many AI systems were trained on human artists’ work without consent or compensation, and urging ethical reconsideration of AI’s role in the art market.
Christie’s responded by emphasizing the creative legitimacy of the works, noting that many participating artists have established multidisciplinary practices and are using AI as a tool to expand upon their artistic visions.
The “Augmented Intelligence” sale underscores both the growing commercial appetite for generative AI art and the ongoing debate over how AI intersects with creative labor, copyright, and artistic value in the 21st century