A new film exploring the rise and impact of OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman premiered at the London Film Festival, offering a sharply critical perspective on the development of artificial intelligence and corporate power dynamics in the tech industry. The film, directed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and written by novelist Simon Rich, provides a detailed, chronological account of OpenAI’s evolution from its inception in 2003 to its current status as a major player in AI technology.

Portraying key figures with fictionalized dramatization, Andrew Garfield stars as Altman, whose leadership is depicted as increasingly self-serving and manipulative. The narrative follows Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s co-founder and AI visionary, played by Yura Borisov, whose idealistic beginnings contrast with the company’s eventual transformation into a profit-driven enterprise. The film traces the progression of OpenAI’s technology toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), highlighting both its groundbreaking innovations and the existential concerns they raise.

A recurring theme in the movie is the moral ambiguity and social dysfunction among the company’s leadership and engineers. Jason Schwartzman appears as a mysterious whistleblower figure who warns of the potentially catastrophic consequences of unchecked AI development. The film draws explicit parallels to the novel "Lord of the Flies," suggesting that the group’s underlying dynamics resemble a breakdown of social order among a group of ethically compromised young men losing sight of collective responsibility.

The plot also touches on a major corporate episode in 2023 when Altman was briefly fired and then reinstated as CEO amid internal power struggles, though this event serves more as a subplot to emphasize the broader existential risks posed by AI development.

Originally backed by Amazon, the film was reportedly dropped by the company following a $50 billion partnership deal with OpenAI, adding a layer of controversy to its release. Despite—or perhaps because of—its provocative content and perspective, the film has been well received by critics for its incisive portrayal of the human and ethical implications behind cutting-edge technological advancements.

The film is scheduled for general release in cinemas starting January 22.