Neon unveils first trailer for Sam Altman biopic "Artificial" VIDEO

Neon has released the first trailer for “Artificial,” a biopic about OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and his dramatic 2023 ouster and reinstatement five days later, dpa reports.

Partly filmed in San Francisco, the film stars Andrew Garfield as Altman. The 77-second trailer offers little detail about the plot but adopts an unsettling, apocalyptic tone, portraying Altman walking through the grounds of a minimalist mansion before descending into an iridescent doomsday bunker, where guns are displayed in cases.

Garfield’s character says: “Countries will fall. Industries are gonna collapse.”

“And we get to be the ones to shepherd people into this new world,” the narration continues. “I'm so excited to see it.”

The trailer arrives as concerns about the potential existential risks posed by artificial intelligence increasingly enter public debate. On Tuesday, Anthropic’s lead AI alignment researcher wrote on X that the company’s team “earnestly” believes AI will kill all humans, responding to a viral post by a former employee who said he had left because he was concerned the company was not taking the risk seriously enough.

“Artificial” is part of a growing wave of films examining the darker side of Silicon Valley. Nathan Fielder’s A24 documentary “You Can See Everything” focuses on Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos who was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Another upcoming film, “The Social Reckoning,” revisits Facebook and serves as a sequel to the 2010 film “The Social Network.” The original, which chronicled Mark Zuckerberg’s rise and his falling-out with co-founder Eduardo Saverin, also starred Garfield as Saverin.

“The Social Reckoning” is expected to focus on The Wall Street Journal’s 2021 “Facebook Files” investigation, which reported, among other allegations, that Facebook knew its products could harm children but did little to address the problem.

Zuckerberg has long criticized the accuracy of “The Social Network,” saying the only element it appeared to portray accurately was his personal style, or lack thereof. His reaction to the new film could be more consequential after Meta recently settled a lawsuit for a reported $18 billion over claims that appear central to the sequel.

Altman has not publicly commented on the “Artificial” trailer. His brother, Jack Altman, however, offered a pointed reaction on X.

“Look, you all know I'd love nothing more than a feature length film making fun of my brother,” Jack Altman said. “Unfortunately based on the preview it looks like the only thing they got right is the walk.”

By Tamilla Hasanova