The big tech biopic is a genre showing no signs of slowing down. Between 2010’s The Social Network and the surprisingly solid 2023 BlackBerry, I’ve certainly enjoyed a few fictionalised humblings—though some would argue that the former Fincher flick can’t help but print the legend. At any rate, Amazon MGM Studios are currently developing a movie based on Sam Altman’s infamous firing and rehiring at OpenAI in 2023.
With a screenplay written by Simon Rich, and Challengers’ Luca Guadagnino in talks to direct, filming for ‘Artificial’ could begin imminently (via The Hollywood Reporter). Though Guadagnino has yet to sign on the dotted line, the production is considering shooting across both San Francisco and Italy later this Summer.
Still, that leaves at least one big question unanswered: Namely, who will play Altman himself? While this has also yet to be confirmed, an assembly of actors including Andrew Garfield, Monica Barbaro, and Yura Borisov are discussing various casting opportunities in the meantime.
For those unfamiliar with the big tech farce Artificial hopes to adapt, let me give you the whistlestop tour: In November of 2023, Sam Altman was ousted as the CEO of the company he co-founded, with a statement at the time saying, “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.” Mira Murati replaced Altman, leading the company as an interim CEO until a more permanent replacement could be chosen, though this was short-lived.
Not even a week later Altman’s return was secured following both internal and external pressure from Microsoft, a major investor in the AI firm. The board members that ousted Altman departed the company soon after. Altman himself was not forthcoming about the reasons behind his firing, though an investigation by Reuters cites AI safety concerns as one reason. It will be interesting to see how Artificial dramatises this, to say nothing else.
Though I’m the last person that could be described as a ‘fan’ of OpenAI, I’m nonetheless intrigued by Artificial—especially if Guadagnino does sign on to direct. Challengers was arguably the best movie I saw in 2024, offering an intense blend of tennis, techno, and, uhm, trysts, that I’ve been really annoying about in conversations with my fellow film buffs for the last six months.
