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Actor Andrew Garfield, who plays OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in the new film "Artificial," said he took the role out of curiosity and fear about the people building AI.
The film spans two decades, chronicling OpenAI’s growth and Altman’s dramatic firing and rehiring in 2023.
"I think the reason I was drawn to it was just pure curiosity and fear and really trying to understand as deeply as possible the people who are ushering us into this next phase of the world," Garfield said.
He said it is important to scrutinize tech leaders "because we need to know who’s in power and who’s creating our new world."
Garfield did not contact or meet Altman while preparing for the role. "It’s not him, but it’s an idea of what this story is and his part in it," he said.
Yura Borisov plays OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who left the company after Altman’s brief ouster, and Ike Barinholtz plays Elon Musk. The film was shot in 2025 and arrives amid growing concern over incidents at OpenAI and Anthropic that have fueled fears that rogue AI systems could slip beyond human control.
Co-star Monica Barbaro, who plays former OpenAI technology chief Mira Murati, said the subject’s relevance made filming surreal. "You want to be truthful, but the truth seems to change every month," she said.
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