Luca Guadagnino’s biopic about Open AI’s Sam Altman has been canned by Amazon MGM Studios. The film’s premature burial isn’t a huge shock, given the current climate of turmoil in Silicon Valley and the tech industry’s uneasy relationship with its most influential figures.
The director, known for his work on Call Me By Your Name and Bones and All, revealed that he wasn’t surprised by the abrupt cancellation of Artificial, a biopic about the life of Open AI founder Sam Altman. In a recent interview on Italy’s La7 Attualità, host Lilli Gruber asked Guadagnino why the film was dropped, and he hinted at the industry’s trepidation about portraying its own leading figures.
Amazon’s Cautious Approach
The tech industry has been grappling with its own self-image, particularly in the wake of Elon Musk’s public feuds with AI researchers and the growing scrutiny of tech giants’ influence over society. With this backdrop, Amazon MGM Studios may have decided that Artificial was too high-risk for their brand reputation.
Guadagnino’s Response
Guadagnino, when asked about the film’s cancellation, implied that he had anticipated the potential fallout. He may have seen the writing on the wall and decided not to push too hard for the film. Alternatively, the cancellation might have been a mutual decision between Guadagnino and Amazon MGM Studios, acknowledging that the project was too sensitive for the current market.
What this means
The cancellation of Artificial is a telling sign of the tech industry’s unease with its own reflection. If even a high-profile film about a prominent tech figure like Sam Altman can’t get off the ground, it suggests that the industry may be taking a more cautious approach to projects that scrutinize its inner workings. This might lead to more sanitized portrayals of tech moguls and AI research in the future – a development that could have far-reaching implications for the way we perceive the tech industry’s influence on society.
