Sam Altman movie dropped by Amazon nears release with first trailer

The first teaser for “Artificial,” a new film dramatizing the rise of OpenAI and the tumultuous period surrounding CEO Sam Altman’s brief ouster, was released Tuesday, offering the first extended look at Andrew Garfield portraying the technology executive.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Simon Rich, the film focuses on events in November 2023, when OpenAI’s board removed Altman as CEO before he returned to the position days later, amid disagreements over the company’s leadership and direction.

The trailer presents a fictionalized version of Altman discussing the potential consequences of artificial intelligence, while also showing the tensions surrounding OpenAI as it developed ChatGPT and expanded its influence in the technology industry.

The film also stars Yura Borisov as OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, Monica Barbaro as former interim CEO Mira Murati and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.

Amazon MGM Studios was originally set to distribute the film worldwide but dropped out earlier this year, a decision that drew attention given Amazon's separate, multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI. Neon subsequently picked up the project.

The film will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival in October and is scheduled to open in select US theaters on Dec. 25, with a wider release planned for January 2027.