BMW’s New Art Cars Were Designed Using Artificial Intelligence

BMW debuted the ‘The Ultimate AI Masterpiece,' which is a unique exploration of art and technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate entirely new works. The virtual art installation premieres in conjunction with Frieze New York 2021, as well as the 50th anniversary of BMW Group Cultural Engagement. ‘The Ultimate AI Masterpiece' virtual art installation was created in partnership with creative technologist Nathan Shipley of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, and Gary Yeh, Art Collector & Founder of ArtDrunk.

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The virtual art installation premieres in conjunction with Frieze New York 2021 and the 50th anniversary of BMW Group Cultural Engagement.

The duo leveraged Nvidia's open source ‘StyleGAN' artificial intelligence software to cross-reference over 50,000 images of artwork spanning 900 years of art history and a curated set of 50 works from renowned and emerging contemporary artists BMW has worked with over the past 50 years. Using these inputs as a basis for understanding art, the artificial intelligence then generates entirely new works of art, merging what it learned from classical art and the styles noted from the contemporary artists. These new works have been projection-mapped onto a virtual rendition of BMW's range-topping 8 Series Gran Coupe.

“For 50 years, BMW has supported the arts and culture through numerous initiatives as a way to engage and interact with consumers around the world in an authentic way,” said Uwe Dreher, vice president of marketing, BMW of North America.  “As we continue these efforts into 2021 and look for new and creative ways to engage audiences, we shift to a virtual setting where we are combining centuries-old art and the latest AI technology to create something completely new and exciting.”

Nathan Shipley and Gary Yeh leveraged Nvidia's open source ‘StyleGAN' artificial intelligence software to cross-reference over 50,000 images of artwork

To document the creative process behind the virtual installation, Shipley and Yeh collaborated digitally from different parts of the world – Yeh in Seoul, Shipley in San Francisco – and virtually joined each other for an engaging conversation on the technology behind the artwork created by the AI, as well as BMW's decades-long support of the arts.