Andrew Garfield Once Thought Sam Altman Could Be 'My Future Best Friend'

Andrew Garfield told an audience at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on Monday night that he once believed OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman was "genuinely great" — and might even become "my future best friend." The actor plays Altman in Luca Guadagnino's film "Artificial," a portrayal the source describes as less than flattering.

Garfield traced his admiration to Altman's congressional testimony. "The first time I saw Sam, he was testifying in front of Congress and he was saying incredibly righteous stuff," he said during a Q&A after an AMPAS screening of the film. "He was talking about transparency; he was talking about the risks. He was very, very casually saying, 'No, I don't have any equity in OpenAI. I'm just doing this because I love the technology and I'm passionate and I actually care about human beings.'" OpenAI was launched as a nonprofit before it released the ChatGPT app. "Artificial" chronicles the founding of OpenAI and the firing and quick rehiring of Altman.

What changed Garfield's view?

The actor said the testimony stacked up impressively. "I thought it was also just incredibly courageous for an out gay tech genius to be sat in front of Republican congressmen who probably don't believe in his right to exist," Garfield said. "I was in such deep admiration of him. I was like, 'Oh, we need more of these.'"

The details kept coming. "Then he was meditating with Jack Kornfield, who's this incredible Buddhist teacher. I'm like, 'This guy might be like my future best friend,'" Garfield said. "'He's genuinely great and he seems to really have his values and priorities in the right place.'"

Pressed for a verdict now, Garfield stopped short of direct criticism. "He convinced me that he was nothing but purely altruistic, which, I mean, it's all playing out. I'm not gonna comment on those things," he said. "We all are seeing what's happening and we can all have our own feelings and opinions of that."

How afraid should artists be?

Garfield did not soften his view of the technology itself. "It's terrifying," he said. "I feel like if enough artists and if enough people who have power can regulate, can be a part of a conversation of making sure that we aren't just giving our future away, lose all of our autonomy, I think we'll be maybe OK? I don't know. I think that is about as hopeful as I can be."

That hedged optimism — "maybe OK," "I don't know" — is as far as the actor commits. He offers no mechanism, no policy, only a conditional: enough powerful people must join the conversation. Whether that happens is the open question the film itself dramatizes.

The wave that never happened

Garfield has also publicly contradicted Altman's account of a friendly encounter. Altman claimed the two men waved at each other when "Artificial" shot outside his San Francisco home. In a recent GQ interview, Garfield said he "wasn't there."

"I saw that interview and I replayed it a few times to try and discern what he was actually saying, because I was very confused by that. I never had any interaction with him," Garfield said. "I've never seen him in real life. We were shooting outside of his house. It was an eerie day, for sure. We were told that he wasn't home and his security people were there. I think I saw one security guard. But, no, I never saw Sam, so he maybe mistook someone else for me. I have no idea, but I've never waved at Sam. I've never seen him. I was curious about that."

Garfield did not contact Altman to prepare for the role. He told the outlet in July that he would not mind meeting him. "I wouldn't know how to. I don't have his number. I don't have his email," Garfield said. "But I'm sure that he'd be able to reach me if he wants to. I'd be very excited and curious to talk with him if he would ever want to do that." Whether Altman takes up that offer, or repeats the wave story, will be the next test of who is curating whose image.