Amazon MGM Drops Nearly Finished Sam Altman Biopic After OpenAI Partnership

Amazon MGM Studios has dropped Luca Guadagnino's nearly finished film "Artificial," a biopic about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman starring Andrew Garfield, just months after Amazon announced a major strategic partnership with OpenAI. The decision, made by Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios chief Mike Hopkins, was communicated to the filmmaker and producing team, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film will now be shopped to other studios. The film, which was centered on OpenAI's 2023 leadership crisis involving Altman's brief ousting and reinstatement as CEO, according to Engadget, also stars Monica Barbaro, Ike Barinholtz, and Yura Borisov in key roles, as reported by The Verge. The project was described as covering the dramatic five-day period in 2023 when Altman was fired and reinstated. "The film will be better served if it were released by a different studio." Rolling Stone reported that Amazon made the statement about the film's release, adding that the decision came four months after Amazon and OpenAI announced a "strategic partnership," creating a clear conflict of interest. The outlet explored the implications of corporate partnerships influencing creative content and the tension between Amazon's business relationship with OpenAI and its prior commitment to the film. The partnership between Amazon and OpenAI, announced in February, included a $50 billion investment and expanded use of Amazon Web Services, according to Variety. Gizmodo reported that the massive $50 billion investment partnership raised questions about potential conflicts of interest between Amazon's corporate investments and its film studio's creative projects. Vulture noted the irony and complications of corporate interests interfering with artistic projects, highlighting how Amazon's business relationship with OpenAI made it untenable to move forward with a biopic that could portray Altman in any potentially negative light.

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