The movie "Artificial" is based on real events surrounding OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman, who was ousted and then reinstated in November 2023. The film stars Andrew Garfield as Altman and will explore the drama of that week when he desperately pleaded for his board to reinstate him. A recent development involving a 200-year-old math problem has sparked controversy over OpenAI's motivations, with mathematician Tristan Buckmaster accusing the company of rushing to solve it due to competition rather than a desire to benefit humanity. The movie is scheduled to release on December 25 and marks Garfield's return to playing a CEO in a high-stakes drama, following his portrayal of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in "The Social Network".
Written by the local model on 2026-09-10,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman will be portrayed by actor Andrew Garfield in the upcoming film "Artificial", which is based on the real-life drama that unfolded at OpenAI in November 2023, when Altman was ousted and then reinstated as CEO. The film's trailer hints at a darker portrayal of Altman, with him shown entering a futuristic room filled with automatic guns, raising questions about whether he can be trusted with powerful technology like artificial intelligence. The movie's marketing suggests it will be a thriller that explores the complexities of AI and its potential risks.
Written for “OpenAIs Potential Impact on Tech” on 2026-09-10,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning score -0.35 for article 7534 (medium confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-10
“Countries will fall.
asserted
Countries → fall → ?
Industries are gonna collapse,” Andrew Garfield, the actor playing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, says in the teaser trailer for Artificial.
asserted
Garfield → go → Artificial
“And we get to be the ones to shepherd people into this new world.”
asserted
we → get → world
The film’s set against the backdrop of the five days in November 2023 after Altman was ousted and then reinstated as CEO.
asserted
Altman → set → CEO
The drama of that week is now the stuff of legend: text messages between Altman and then-interim CEO Mira Murati, later released in court documents, show him desperately pleading for the board to reinstate him.
asserted
board → release → him
Even more extensive reporting from the time turned up dozens of Atlman’s former co-workers, all of whom describe him as someone with an implacable drive for more power.
asserted
all → turn → power
Will Artificial have any sympathy for him?
asserted
Artificial → have → him
The trailer doesn’t do much to dispel this notion.
asserted
trailer → do → notion
In it, Garfield gets out of a Batmobile-looking car and walks into a futuristic blue-light room stacked with automatic guns encased in glass shelves.
asserted
Garfield → get → shelves
The question for audiences isn’t subtle: can and should Altman be trusted with a tool as powerful as artificial intelligence?
asserted
Altman → trust → intelligence
The movie’s marketed as a thriller, which makes sense because OpenAI has undeniably done things worthy of the genre.
asserted
OpenAI → market → genre
This week, the Intercept reported that the Pentagon asked the company, which signed a $200-million agreement with OpenAI back in February, to design automated tools that would rarely deny their requests.
asserted
that → report → requests
Then on Monday, OpenAI announced that it had solved a 200-year-old math problem, and on Tuesday, said it only took its AI agents 88 hours to complete and provided its full solution to the public.
asserted
it → announce → public
But mathematician Tristan Buckmaster said on Monday night the company actually rushed to solve the equation after learning about his and his colleague’s, Levent Alpöge, an Anthropic employee, progress on the problem using Anthropic and OpenAI tools.
asserted
Alpöge → say → tools
On Tuesday, OpenAI said it heard rumors last week that two complex, long-unsolved math problems had been solved—one of which was the problem Buckmaster and Alpöge were working on.
asserted
Buckmaster → say → which
“Inspired by these rumors,” the company said it tried to use one of its internal models to solve it and said it did not realize until later that Alpöge was an Anthropic employee.
asserted
Alpöge → inspire → it
The movie, scheduled to release on December 25, also has drama of its own: Amazon dropped the project in June, following its partnership with OpenAI, which integrates the company’s models into Amazon Web Services.
asserted
which → schedule → Services
Garfield notably portrayed Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network, a 2010 film about Mark Zuckerberg’s time in college.
asserted
Garfield → portray → college
That film seemed to sympathize with Zuckerberg as a tragic figure leading a company that hadn’t yet leaked tens of millions of users’ personal data, failed to stop its platform from being used to “foment division and incite offline violence” in the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, or become a hotbed of dangerous AI slop.
asserted
that → seem → slop
Public sentiment has turned so squarely against companies that profit from social media that even West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin—who also wrote the screenplay for the 2010 film—has returned to the action with another dramatic rendering of Zuckerberg due out in October and aptly named The Social Reckoning.
asserted
who → turn → October
