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Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Sam Altman in “Artificial” is less than flattering, but there was a time when the actor deeply admired the OpenAI co-founder and CEO.
“The first time I saw Sam, he was testifying in front
of Congress and he was saying incredibly righteous stuff,” Garfield said Monday night during a Q&A following an AMPAS screening of the film at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles. “He was talking about transparency; he was talking about the risks. He was very, very casually saying, ‘No, I don’t have any equity in OpenAI. I’m just doing this because I love the technology and I’m passionate and I actually care about human beings.’”
OpenAI was launched as a nonprofit before launching the ChatGPT app. The
Luca Guadagnino-directed “Artificial” chronicles the founding of OpenAI and the firing and quick rehiring of Altman.
“I thought it was also just incredibly courageous for an out gay tech genius to be sat in front of Republican congressmen who probably don’t believe in his right to exist,” Garfield said. “So all of these things were adding up for me, and I was in such deep admiration of him. I was like, ‘Oh, we need more of these.’ and then he was meditating with Jack Kornfield, who’s this incredible Buddhist teacher. I’m like, ‘This guy might be like my future best friend.’ I was like, ‘He’s genuinely great and he seems to really have his values and priorities in the right place.’”
Garfield stopped short of directly criticizing Altman. “He convinced me that he was nothing but purely altruistic, which, I mean, it’s all playing out. I’m not gonna comment on those things,” he said. “We all are seeing what’s happening and we can all have our own feelings and opinions of that.”
He added, “It’s terrifying … I feel like if enough artists and if enough people who have power can regulate, can be a part of a conversation of making sure that we aren’t just giving our future away, lose all of our autonomy, I think we’ll be maybe OK? I don’t know. I think that is about as hopeful as I can be.”
Garfield recently disputed Altman’s claim that the two men waved at each other when the movie was shooting in front of Altman’s San Francisco home.
Garfield was asked about Altman’s anecdote in a recent GQ interview, and he said he “wasn’t there.”
“No, I saw that interview and I replayed it a few times to try and discern what he was actually saying, because I was very confused by that. I never had any interaction with him,” said Garfield. “I’ve never seen him in real life. We were shooting outside of his house. It was an eerie day, for sure. We were told that he wasn’t home and his security people were there. I think I saw one security guard. But, no, I never saw Sam, so he maybe mistook someone else for me. I have no idea, but I’ve never waved at Sam. I’ve never seen him. I was curious about that.”
While Garfield didn’t reach out to Altman to prepare for the role, he told me in July that he wouldn’t mind meeting the tech exec. “I wouldn’t know how to. I don’t have his number. I don’t have his email,” Garfield said. “But I’m sure that he’d be able to reach me if he wants to. I’d be very excited and curious to talk with him if he would ever want to do that.”
