Robotic dogs featuring the faces of tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and artists such as Pablo Picasso are currently shown at an art exhibition at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie, captivating visitors.

The installation by US digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, is entitled “Regular Animals”. The mechanical dogs roam the exhibition space, dodging one another and interacting with the audience. Among those depicted, alongside Musk and Picasso, are Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the artist Andy Warhol and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The artworks are intended to convey a deeper message. The robotic dogs capture images of their surroundings and then produce prints in the style of the person whose face they bear.

"In the past, our view of the world was influenced by artists," said Winkelmann. "The way Picasso painted changed how we saw the world. Now, our view of the world is influenced by tech billionaires who control algorithms that decide what we see and what we don't see."

Winkelmann explained that the idea had been to create a work of art that felt very lifelike. With advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, there would be more sculptures in future that behaved unpredictably. The title ‘Regular Animals’ suggests that something which still seems very unusual today could become commonplace in the future.

The exhibition’s curator, Lisa Botti, described the artwork as a magnet for visitors. “What on earth are they doing? Ah, they’re taking photos of me, Where do these photos actually end up?”, said Botti.

Botti emphasised that museums were important for where people to reflect on complex topics such as AI and its social implications.

“Regular Animals,” was first shown at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

BERLIN, GERMANY (APRIL 29, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. ROBOT DOG WITH THE REALISTICALLY SCULPTED FACE OF KIM YONG UN WALKING TOWARDS CAMERA SMILING

2. LEGS OF DOG ROBOT / JEFF BEZOS DOG AND OTHERS WALKING

3. VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF PUBLIC LOOKING AT DOGS

4. VARIOUS OF ELON MUSK DOG WALKING

5. GALLERY VISITORS LOOKING AT DOGS

6. VARIOUS OF MUSK DOG MOVING UP AND DOWN

7. BEZOS ROBOT DOG

8. (SOUNDBITE) (German) EXHIBITION VISITOR, JOST LISTEMANN, SAYING:

"My first impressions: why did he choose these faces. What does Elon Musk have to do with Picasso. I haven't understood that yet. And I don't know all of the faces. That one is Andy Warhol..but it is certainly interesting and is pulling the crowds in."

9. (SOUNDBITE) (German) EXHIBITION VISITOR, ANGELIKA POHLMAN,, SAYING:

"It's really interesting. And I think it's good to use these faces from certain well-known people on the robots, these tech people. I think it's good."

10. (SOUNDBITE) (German) EXHIBITION VISITOR, ASTRID REEK-RAJEC, SAYING:

"Fantastic! I saw it yesterday on TV and had to come here straight away today. It's amazing how realistic these faces are. It's great, I'm really happy."

11. CONTROL PANEL ON DOG

12. VISITORS LOOKING AT DOGS

13. DOGS WALKING AROUND

14. VISITORS LOOKING AT DOGS

15. ZUCKERBERG AND PICASSO ROBOT DOGS LYING DOWN

16. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIGITAL ARTIST AND CREATOR OF THE 'REGULAR ANIMALS,' MIKE WINKELMANN (BEEPLE), SAYING:

"The idea behind the exhibition was to make an artwork that feels very alive. I think with the advances in AI and robotics, you're going to see many more sort of like sculptures that are doing things that are unpredictable and interacting with the world in ways that we can't, sort of like, you know, sort of predict. And I think this is sort of like a first step towards that. The name of the piece is called "Regular Animals," and it's something that I think seems very unusual now, but it's something that, in the future, I think will actually seem very regular."

17. ROBOT DOGS WALKING AROUND

18. CLOSE OF WINKELMANN'S DOG FACE

19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIGITAL ARTIST AND CREATOR OF THE 'REGULAR ANIMALS,' MIKE WINKELMANN (BEEPLE), SAYING:

"I think it's definitely something where it's very hard for people to, like, look at it and just be like, "Oh, yep, seen one of those things before," like it's pretty, pretty, usually a visceral reaction to it."

20. PEOPLE LOOKING AT ROBOT DOGS

21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIGITAL ARTIST AND CREATOR OF THE 'REGULAR ANIMALS,' MIKE WINKELMANN (BEEPLE), SAYING:

"And the idea is that basically how it works is: the dogs are walking around trying not to bump into each other, and then they are taking pictures of everything they see and pooping out prints in the style of that person. So, the Picasso one poops out pictures that look like Picasso. The Warhol one poops out pictures that look like a Warhol screen print. And the idea behind it is: In the past, our view of the world was influenced by artists. The way Picasso painted changed how we saw the world. Now, our view of the world is influenced by tech billionaires who control algorithms that decide what we see and what we don't see. And so, there's that sort of shift, let's say that I think a lot of people kind of fully haven't sort of like processed, and that's something that we wanted to kind of like highlight here."

22. PICTURE IN THE STYLE OF PICASSO THAT GETS 'POOED' OUT OF PICASSO DOG

23. PICASSO DOG

24. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIGITAL ARTIST AND CREATOR OF THE 'REGULAR ANIMALS,' MIKE WINKELMANN (BEEPLE), SAYING:

"I've not heard from any of the faces yet, I would hope these guys have better things to do than worry about robot dogs sort of pooping around, but yeah, we'll see."

25. VARIOUS OF ANDY WARHOL DOG

26. PEOPLE WATCHING

27. BEZOS DOG

28. (SOUNDBITE) (German) EXHIBITION CURATOR, LISA BOTTI, SAYING:

"The visitors arrive and are, of course, drawn to it as if by a magnet. You walk up to it, you look, you laugh, you’re interested – and that’s the whole point: it draws you in. But then the hope is that the visitors might pause for a moment and say: What on earth are they doing? Ah, they’re taking photos of me, Where do these photos actually end up? Why are these faces on them? What do they mean? What influence do they have? Many of us have children and know that the internet and social media play a huge role. What are the actual dangers? What are the positives? And museums are still places, as the artist also says, where you might put your mobile away for five minutes and not scroll, but look at things, to think about complex matters. Museums have always been places where society is reflected in some way. And that’s why it was so important for us to showcase the topic of artificial intelligence here through an inviting work of art."

29. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT ROBOT DOGS