Turkish conglomerate Yıldız Holding has invested $1.25 million in Dataland, the artificial intelligence-powered digital art museum founded by internationally acclaimed media artist Refik Anadol and painter Efsun Erkılıç, marking one of Türkiye's first corporate investments in the emerging intersection of art, artificial intelligence and creative technology.
The investment extends the company's long-standing support for culture and the arts into digital media and AI-driven artistic production. As part of the agreement, Anadol will also create a site-specific digital artwork for Yıldız Holding's corporate art collection, expanding it beyond traditional works to include AI-generated art.
Dataland officially opened on June 20 in Los Angeles, U.S., with "Machine Dreams: Rainforest," an exhibition housed at Frank Gehry's The Grand LA. The project has been described as the world's first artificial intelligence museum dedicated to data-driven and generative media art, bringing together machine learning, environmental data and visitor participation to create artworks that continuously evolve.
Unlike conventional museums, Dataland uses real-time environmental information and biometric data collected through wearable devices to generate unique visual experiences that cannot be replicated. The institution aims to explore the relationship between humans, nature and artificial intelligence while presenting digital art as a constantly changing, interactive medium.
Following its debut in Los Angeles, the project is expected to expand internationally, with future locations planned in London, Dubai, Riyadh, Hong Kong and Seoul.
For Yıldız Holding, the investment also reflects a relationship that predates Dataland's launch. Company Chair Murat Ülker began supporting and collecting Anadol's work during the artist's early career, and the latest collaboration represents an expansion of that relationship into cultural technology investment.
In addition to the financial backing, the company will receive an original digital artwork developed exclusively by Anadol. The work will become part of Yıldız Holding's corporate collection, which includes both classical and contemporary works and is now expanding into digital art.
Vice Chair Yahya Ülker said artificial intelligence is reshaping not only business processes but also creativity and cultural production, describing Dataland as an example of how technology can create new artistic experiences.
"Dataland is more than a physical museum," he said in a statement. "It has been designed as a scalable platform combining software, artificial intelligence, creative content, membership models and locations that can be replicated in different cities."
He added that supporting projects centered on people, creativity and emerging technologies aligns with the company's broader investment strategy, saying Yıldız Holding was pleased to become one of the first organizations from Türkiye to support the initiative.
Murat Ülker, meanwhile, said artificial intelligence should be viewed as a creative tool rather than a replacement for human imagination.
While technological advances continue to transform artistic production, he argued that works shaped by human experience, craftsmanship and personal expression would remain valuable. He said Dataland distinguishes itself by combining visitors' own data with live rainforest data to generate artworks unique to a specific moment, creating experiences that cannot be reproduced.
Yıldız Holding said the investment forms part of its wider venture capital strategy focused on future technologies while supporting initiatives that bring together art, artificial intelligence and innovation. The company said it aims to contribute to new cultural production models that emphasize creativity, interdisciplinary collaboration and the ethical use of emerging technologies.