Artificial trailer reveals Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman

MUMBAI: The AI story is getting a Hollywood rewrite, and this time the drama comes with a trailer.

Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial has released its first trailer, offering the first look at Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a film centred on the turbulent events surrounding his brief removal from the company in 2023.

Written by Saturday Night Live writer Simon Rich, the film focuses on the extraordinary five-day period in November 2023 when OpenAI’s board removed Altman as CEO before he returned to the role amid mounting pressure from employees.

The trailer opens with Garfield’s Altman walking into what appears to be a sprawling mansion before entering a futuristic room where weapons sit behind glass. The sequence then shifts towards the origins of artificial intelligence, with his character discussing the creation of a system capable of teaching itself before introducing the name ChatGPT.

But the mood quickly moves from futuristic fascination to darker territory. Garfield’s Altman warns about the consequences of AI, describing the technology as having opened “Pandora’s Box” and suggesting that countries and industries could be reshaped by what comes next. He also speaks of those developing the technology having the ability to guide people towards a new world.

The film brings several major figures from OpenAI’s story to the screen. Monica Barbaro plays former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, while Yura Borisov portrays former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. Mark Rylance plays AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, with Ike Barinholtz taking on the role of Elon Musk, one of OpenAI’s co-founders.

Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, Cooper Hoffman and Billie Lourd also feature in the cast.

The story draws on the November 2023 leadership crisis, when OpenAI’s board announced Altman’s removal, saying it no longer had confidence in his leadership. His return came just five days later after hundreds of employees threatened to leave the company.

The trailer also points towards the complicated roles of Sutskever and Musk in the company’s history. Sutskever was reportedly involved in the effort to remove Altman before later expressing regret, while Musk’s portrayal reflects his early connection to OpenAI and his subsequent distance from the company.

Artificial has already had a behind-the-scenes plot of its own. Amazon MGM Studios withdrew as its original distributor after Amazon announced a major partnership with OpenAI and a $50 billion investment in the company, saying the film would be better served by another studio. Netflix, A24 and Focus subsequently passed on the project before Neon took over distribution in June.

The film is scheduled to premiere at the New York Film Festival in October before opening in select theatres on December 25.

With its mix of boardroom conflict, AI anxiety and some of the biggest names in the technology industry, Artificial is turning one of Silicon Valley’s most dramatic leadership crises into a Hollywood story — proving that when the subject is AI, the real drama may not need much artificial enhancement.