GeezerVison

The Algorithm Auction is the world's first auction of computer algorithms.^[1] Created by Ruse Laboratories, the initial auction featured seven lots and was held at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum on March 27, 2015.^[2]

Five lots were physical representations of famous code or algorithms, including a signed, handwritten copy of the original Hello, World! C program by its creator Brian Kernighan on dot-matrix printer paper, a printed copy of 5,000 lines of Assembly code comprising the earliest known version of Turtle Graphics, signed by its creator Hal Abelson, a necktie containing the six-line qrpff algorithm capable of decrypting content on a commercially produced DVD video disc, and a pair of drawings representing OkCupid's original Compatibility Calculation algorithm, signed by the company founders.^[3] The qrpff lot sold for $2,500.^[4]

Two other lots were “living algorithms,” including a set of JavaScript tools for building applications that are accessible to the visually impaired and the other was for a program that converts lines of software code into music.^[5] Winning bidders received, along with artifacts related to the algorithms, a full intellectual property license to use, modify, or open-source the code.^[6] All lots were sold, with Hello World receiving the most bids.^[7]

Exhibited alongside the auction lots were a facsimile of the Plimpton 322 tablet on loan from Columbia University, and Nigella, an art-world facing computer virus named after Nigella Lawson and created by cypherpunk and hacktivist Richard Jones.^[8]

Sebastian Chan, Director of Digital & Emerging Media at the Cooper–Hewitt,^[9] attended the event remotely from Milan, Italy via a Beam Pro telepresence robot.^[10]

Following the auction, the Museum of Modern Art held a salon titled The Way of the Algorithm highlighting algorithms as "a ubiquitous and indispensable component of our lives."^[11]