On December 5, 2025, at the Basel Art Fair in Switzerland, an installation by digital art firm Beeple ignited a firestorm of discussion: AI-powered robot dogs modeled after Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg that can “defecate” autonomously – marrying tech’s biggest names with absurd everyday behavior to become the most talked-about work of this year’s fair.
The piece features two robot dogs: one replicates Musk’s signature light blond hair and casual attire, while the other mirrors Zuckerberg’s dark short hair and minimalist shirt. Equipped with Beeple’s custom small-scale AI drive system, the robots can mimic simple human-like movements. After a pre-programmed “feeding” sequence, they expel biodegradable material resembling pet waste via a tiny tail-mounted mechanism – with the entire process labeled “Tech Titans’ ‘Physiological Metabolism’” on a screen beside the installation.
Art or gag? Beeple: Using absurdity to deconstruct tech giants’ “divinity”
“I wanted to shatter the ‘deified filter’ people put on tech billionaires,” said Beeple founder Mike Winkelmann in an on-site interview. He explained that the “pooping” function is not just a joke: The biodegradable waste is embedded with microchips that display real-time data on the two entrepreneurs’ companies (such as Tesla’s production volumes or Meta’s user growth). “It’s a metaphor – even the most influential tech figures are tied to ‘messy, tangible systems’ behind their glossy public images,” Winkelmann added.
The work quickly went viral on social media, with some viewers calling it “a bold critique of tech celebrity culture” and others dismissing it as “cheap shock value.” Neither Musk nor Zuckerberg has commented on the piece so far. A Basel Art Fair spokesperson noted that the installation aligns with the fair’s theme of “tech and human nature”: “It forces us to confront the absurdity of how we idolize figures who shape our digital lives.”
Industry observers point out that Beeple – known for its $69 million NFT artwork Everydays: The First 5000 Days – has long blurred the line between tech, art, and satire. This latest piece continues that trend: using a ridiculous, relatable human function to strip tech giants of their aura, turning them into “ordinary” (albeit mechanical) beings. As one visitor put it: “For a second, I forgot they’re the guys running space companies and social networks – I just saw two robots doing something we all do. That’s the point, right?”