‘Artificial’ trailer: Andrew Garfield plays Sam Altman in Luca Guadagnino’s OpenAI drama

The first trailer offers a dark first look at Luca Guadagnino’s film about the 2023 crisis that briefly saw Altman removed as OpenAI CEO

Published - September 09, 2026 12:53 pm IST

A still from ‘Artificial’ | Photo Credit: Neon

The first trailer for Artificial has been released, giving audiences their first look at Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Simon Rich, the film dramatises the tumultuous events surrounding Altman’s firing and reinstatement at OpenAI in November 2023.

The teaser opens with Garfield’s Altman walking through a luxurious compound before descending into a fortified basement filled with guns and survival supplies. His voiceover discusses the consequences of artificial intelligence, including the launch of ChatGPT, as the film adopts an ominous tone around the technology’s potential impact on society.

The story centres on the five-day corporate upheaval that began when OpenAI’s board removed Altman as CEO in November 2023. Mira Murati, played by Monica Barbaro, briefly became interim CEO before Altman returned to the company days later following intense pressure from employees and investors. Yura Borisov plays OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who was involved in the effort to remove Altman.

The cast also includes Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk, Cooper Hoffman as OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, Mark Rylance as AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, Jason Schwartzman, Chris O’Dowd and Zosia Mamet. Garfield previously portrayed Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network, making Artificial his second major fictional portrayal of a Silicon Valley figure.

The film itself became part of the corporate drama it depicts. Amazon MGM Studios dropped Artificial in June after initially backing the project, shortly after Amazon announced a major partnership with OpenAI. Neon subsequently acquired the film and added it to its awards-season slate.

Artificial will make its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on October 5 before opening in select U.S. theatres on December 25, 2026. It will expand internationally in January 2027.

Published - September 09, 2026 12:53 pm IST

cinema / English cinema / Artificial Intelligence

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