Luca Guadagnino Is 'Not Afraid' of Sam Altman Backlash to 'Artificial'

Luca Guadagnino says he is "not afraid" of any backlash from Sam Altman over "Artificial," his film about the OpenAI CEO's 2023 ouster and return, which premiered at the New York Film Festival on Monday.

Andrew Garfield plays Altman in the film. The cast also includes "Anora" breakout Yura Borisov as OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who fires Altman; Monica Barbaro as former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati; and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.

Asked in an interview with Vulture whether he feared the response from Altman or others depicted in the film, Guadagnino answered: "I don't know — maybe they love the movie." He added: "I'm not afraid. I think that people that have a lot of power should be very much aware that you must be responsible for the community."

Who approached the director?

Guadagnino disclosed that he was "indirectly approached" by some of those portrayed in the film, though he did not reveal who. "But we didn't engage," he said. Altman has not publicly commented on the film.

Why did the film change studios?

"Artificial" was picked up by Neon after its original studio, Amazon MGM, dropped it. The shift followed Amazon's $50 billion investment in OpenAI.

Pressed on the shuffle, Guadagnino declined to elaborate. "I don't want to get much into that. I love everybody in that company. The people at Amazon are my friends," he told Vulture.

What is Guadagnino's view on AI?

The "Call Me by Your Name" and "Challengers" director said he would not use AI in his own filmmaking but stops short of opposing it outright.

"With everything that makes change, I'm very secular," he said. "I welcome change and I witness change. To go against change, somehow it's not an appropriate approach. You have to wait and see."

With Neon now handling release and Altman still silent, the film's journey from a studio with a $50 billion stake in its subject to an independent distributor may prove as telling as the story it dramatizes.