Amazon has walked away from a nearly finished biopic about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, prompting questions about why a film centered on one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures suddenly needs a new distributor.
The $40 million film “Artificial,” which starred “Spider-Man” actor Andrew Garfield as Altman, was reportedly nearing completion when Amazon struck it from its 2027 release schedule. The project — which also stars “Mad TV” and “Eastbound and Down” alum Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk — is now being shopped to other studios.
‘All I hope is that if he puts me into a gulag, it’s one with all of my friends. That way we can have a party.’
Unlikable characters
According to Variety, the film performed well in multiple test screenings, with one viewer telling the outlet that Altman and Musk were the two characters audiences “liked the least.”
Some observers have pointed to Amazon’s deepening ties to OpenAI as the reason for the change of heart.
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In February, OpenAI announced a major collaboration involving SoftBank, NVIDIA, and Amazon.
“Helping AI reach more people requires deep collaboration across the ecosystem,” OpenAI said at the time.
‘Utmost respect’
Amazon’s role in the partnership includes helping Amazon Web Services customers build AI applications and agents using OpenAI technology. The collaboration powers the Stateful Runtime Environment for Agents in Amazon Bedrock, which the company says can be used for customer support, sales operations, IT automation, and financial workflows.
While some observers have connected Amazon’s decision to those business ties, neither Amazon nor the filmmakers have suggested that was the reason for the split.
Instead, Amazon framed the move as a decision about the film itself.
“We have the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award-winning filmmaker — not to mention a longstanding relationship that we hope to continue,” an Amazon spokesman told Variety.
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Mondadori/Getty Images
Gulag guy
The company added: “We believe that ‘Artificial’ will be better served if it were released by a different studio and are working closely with the filmmaking team to find the film a new home.”
Some online observers have also pointed to Altman’s appearance at Jeff Bezos’ wedding last year, though there is no public evidence linking that relationship to Amazon’s decision.
Barinholtz appeared less interested than some actors in conducting firsthand research for the role. Asked by Variety in September 2025 whether he had considered meeting Musk, the actor replied, “I’m OK,” adding that the Tesla CEO was “famous enough that you get it.”
The 49-year-old later joked, “All I hope is that if he puts me into a gulag, it’s one with all of my friends. That way we can have a party.”
Garfield said he was initially reluctant to take the role after previously portraying Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in the 2010 film “The Social Network.”
“I’ve been very, very gun-shy around other films that deal with the same world,” Garfield told Vanity Fair in November 2025. “And yet I wanted to dive into the psyche of a guy who wins — because I played the guy who arguably doesn’t win, because he’s too touchy-feely.”
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