Despite the open letter, the Augmented Intelligence auction is currently taking place and will run until the 5th of March. The auction has been described by Christie’s as the first major auction solely dedicated to AI art, with prices ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 for 20 lots from artists like Refik Anadol and the late Harold Cohen, a pioneer in AI-generated art.
Signatories to the letter include Karla Ortiz and Kelly McKernan, who filed lawsuits in 2023 against AI companies for allegedly misappropriating their work. “Many of the artworks you plan to auction were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrights work without a license,” the letter states. “These models, and the companies behind them, exploit human artists, using their work without permission or payment to build commercial AI products that compete with them.”
The letter concludes: “Your support of these models, and the people who use them, rewards and further incentivizes AI companies’ mass theft of human artists’ work. We ask that, if you have any respect for human artists, you cancel the auction.”
In response, a spokesperson for Christie’s issued a statement to ARTnews: “The artists represented in this sale have strong, existing multidisciplinary art practices, some recognized in leading museum collections. The works in this auction are using artificial intelligence to enhance their bodies of work.”
This is not the first time AI-generated art has sparked controversy. In November, Sotheby’s New York sold a painting by Ai-Da, a humanoid robot powered by AI, for over $1 million, including fees.
The open letter coincides with the AI Action Summit, taking place this week in Paris, where global leaders are discussing the future of AI.
Cover image: Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst's "Embedding Study 1" and "Embedding Study 2" are part of the Christie's AI auction. The estimated selling price is between $70,000 and $90,000. Courtesy Christie's Images LTD 2025
