Sam Altman Calls Upcoming Biopic ‘Artificial’ an Awful Movie

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has given an unusually blunt assessment of Artificial, the upcoming film about the events surrounding his dramatic removal and return at the artificial intelligence company.

Altman said he had watched the trailer for the Luca Guadagnino-directed movie and was unimpressed by what he saw.

“I mean, it looks like an awful movie,” Altman told CNBC, while adding that he appreciated the creativity behind the project and supported the filmmakers’ work.

Artificial, starring Andrew Garfield as Altman, focuses on the turbulent period in 2023 when Altman was removed as OpenAI chief before returning to the company days later. The film is scheduled to arrive in cinemas at Christmas.

The movie is part of a growing wave of productions examining the lives of powerful technology entrepreneurs. Other projects due in 2026 include Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, featuring Jeremy Strong as Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Musk, a four-hour documentary about Elon Musk directed by Alex Gibney.

Netflix is also preparing The Altruists, a series about convicted cryptocurrency founder Sam Bankman-Fried, while filmmaker Nathan Fielder and director Lance Oppenheim have produced a documentary centred on disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.

The surge in tech-focused films comes as public confidence in the industry has weakened. Technology companies once presented their founders as visionary figures who would transform society, but concerns over artificial intelligence, data privacy, social media and the growing influence of billionaires have changed that image.

Katie Drummond, editor-in-chief of WIRED, said the films reflect growing frustration among Americans who feel that wealthy technology leaders are imposing products and systems on society without sufficient public consent.

Hollywood has portrayed technology entrepreneurs in different ways over the years. The Social Network, released in 2010, turned Zuckerberg’s rise at Facebook into a story of ambition, betrayal and personal conflict, while later films increasingly presented technology executives as powerful figures whose pursuit of profit could have dangerous consequences.

Film scholar Joe Street said the portrayal has evolved alongside growing scrutiny of the technology sector. The industry’s controversies, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal and concerns surrounding artificial intelligence, have helped create a darker image of Silicon Valley.

The filmmakers are also dealing with an unusual challenge: many of the people being portrayed remain among the most powerful figures in business. Musk has already criticised Gibney’s documentary about him, while Zuckerberg has continued to reject parts of the earlier portrayal of his life in The Social Network.

The production of Artificial itself has reflected the complicated relationship between Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Amazon MGM initially agreed to distribute the film but dropped the project in June, saying it would be better served by another distributor. The decision came months after Amazon announced a major partnership with OpenAI.

NEON later acquired the film and is preparing it for a Christmas theatrical release.

Altman appears to be taking the attention with some humour despite his criticism of the movie. He said he understands why people are anxious about artificial intelligence and does not mind if some of that anxiety is directed at him through satire.

As AI continues to reshape industries and raise fears over jobs, privacy and control, Hollywood appears increasingly interested in the people driving the technology revolution.

For audiences, the 2026 tech-film boom offers an opportunity to examine the men behind some of the world’s most influential companies — and perhaps question whether the once-celebrated tech visionary has become Hollywood’s new billionaire villain.