Amazon Dropped Sam Altman Film: Exposes Hollywood AI Conflict of Interest

Amazon MGM Studios has dropped "Artificial," Luca Guadagnino's nearly finished biopic about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, just months after the tech giant invested $50 billion in Altman's company.

The film, starring Andrew Garfield as Altman and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk, dramatizes the tumultuous week in November 2023 when Altman was fired and then reinstated as OpenAI CEO

Amazon had spent approximately $40 million on the project and reportedly received positive test screening results before backing out. An Amazon spokesperson stated that the film would "be better served if it were released by a different studio" .

However, Variety reports that the characters of Altman and Musk are portrayed as the least sympathetic figures in the film — a challenging narrative for a studio that just became OpenAI's largest financial backer.

"The Social Network was also a Garfield film, and its version of Mark Zuckerberg defined how the public saw him for years. A similar origin story is precisely what Altman risks inheriting from Artificial." – Puck analysis

The decision arrives as Hollywood grapples with AI's growing influence on multiple fronts. While Amazon backs away from a critical portrayal of Altman, other studios are embracing AI in production.

Google's DeepMind unit has invested $75 million in independent studio A24 to develop new AI tools for filmmakers, with early projects including AI-generated storyboards.

Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese has joined AI firm Black Forest Labs as an advisor, and SAG-AFTRA continues negotiating protections for actors against synthetic performers.

The "Artificial" situation reflects a broader tension: as tech companies become the primary financial engines of Hollywood, filmmakers may face increasing pressure to avoid narratives that paint their benefactors in an unflattering light. Major studios including Netflix, A24, and Focus Features have reportedly passed on acquiring the film.