Amazon MGM drops OpenAI film as AI ties to Hollywood grow

In short: Big tech companies are getting more involved in what movies get made, and how movies get made, and recent moves by Amazon and Google show the shift.

What's going on

Amazon-owned MGM Studios has dropped a film called Artificial, a biographical drama about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the company turmoil in November 2023. The movie was reportedly close to finished, with about $40 million spent on production. Amazon said the movie would be “better served” if released by another studio, and the decision drew criticism because the film reportedly portrays Altman in an unflattering way.

At the same time, Google DeepMind has started a $75 million partnership with indie film studio A24. The deal is aimed at building AI tools for filmmaking, not making a fully AI-made movie. In simple terms, these tools can help with time-consuming steps like planning shots (storyboarding, like sketching a comic version of a scene before filming) and other editing tasks that usually take a lot of manual work.

The Uncanny Valley discussion also connects this to a bigger push for AI infrastructure, including more data centers. Data centers are large buildings full of computers that power online services (like warehouses, but for computing). Wired also notes growing pushback, including some workers and residents opposing data center projects.

What to watch

As tech firms invest in studios and tools, they may gain more influence over which stories move forward and which get shelved. Watch for more deals between AI companies and entertainment firms, and for clearer rules about data center growth and its local costs.

Source: Wired