Sam Altman says the new film “Artificial,” which portrays him and Elon Musk, is not aimed at accuracy. Forbes reported on October 10 that Altman made the comments in a Vanity Fair interview earlier this week. The film premiered this week at the New York Film Festival.
What Altman said
Forbes quotes him saying, “I don’t think they’re going for accuracy.” Forbes reports that he watched the trailer and denied its image of a bunker full of firearms, calling it an example of inaccuracy. He also said the film will not be good as an accurate depiction, and that actor Andrew Garfield, who plays him, nailed the way he walks.
What the film covers
According to Forbes, the film is about Altman’s days-long ouster as OpenAI’s CEO in 2023, and Musk is one of the tech billionaires it portrays. Forbes says the film has a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score based on its first 16 reviews. It does not name the director or give a release date.
What is not known
Forbes reports no response from Musk about how he is portrayed. We have only one outlet for these details, so we cannot add anything about the film’s content beyond what Forbes says. Note that Altman’s comments are about “Artificial,” not about Alex Gibney’s “Musk” documentary, which we covered in Gibney’s Musk Documentary Opens: What Critics Are Saying.
Our take: two films about tech billionaires opened in the same week, and the people portrayed are disputing them in public. Altman’s remark is mild next to Musk’s reaction to the Gibney film. Whether Musk comments on “Artificial” is the thing to watch.
