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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has never met Andrew Garfield — who is portraying him in Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming film “Artificial” — but he did wave at him once.
In a new cover story with Vanity Fair, the controversial tech
exec addressed the movie for the first time, which depicts the five-day period in 2023 when he was ousted from OpenAI and then rehired. Altman has seen the trailer and said of Garfield: “He did walk like me.” He then claimed that one day he ran into the production filming near his house.
“There were these notices on our street that there was going to be some filming or whatever. I didn’t realize what was going on. I paid no attention,” Altman said. “And then one morning, I was walking down the street to get coffee and there were all these cameras and there was a guy dressed exactly like me with my same backpack walking so much that I felt I was in some weird glitch of the simulation or something. It was very strange. And then I immediately figured out what was happening.”
He added, “We waved and went on, but it was really weird. I mean, it’s like a strange thing to see someone that has nailed your kind of quirky mannerisms or whatever.”
Altman confirmed that he and Garfield have never spoken, saying: “I waved at him that one time and that was it.”
Garfield has previously been open about opting not to meet with Altman to prepare for the role, telling Esquire U.K. in August: “I’ve never met him. I was going off of the script and court transcripts and interviews and research, and we were telling a story. But I think anyone who takes on that level of responsibility for a company or a technology that you know is going to do a hell of a lot of damage to the soul of humanity [must have] a certain ability to dissociate.”
Altman was also questioned about Amazon MGM Studios dropping “Artificial” after Amazon invested $50 billion into OpenAI (Neon will now distribute the film, which premieres on Monday at New York Film Festival). Altman asserted that he did not speak to anyone at Amazon about the movie, including Jeff Bezos, and “I don’t know of anyone else who did,” he said.
“Artificial” has been said not to be a very complimentary portrait of Altman, but he told Vanity Fair he isn’t expecting it to be an “accurate depiction.”
“I will say from having watched the trailer, I don’t think they’re going for accuracy,” Altman said. “So in that sense, no, it doesn’t bother. I mean, they’re trying to make a good movie and maybe it will be good. I don’t know. Good as a movie. It will not be good as an accurate depiction. Except for the walk.”
For example, Altman said that the clip in the trailer where he rushes into a bunker with guns on the wall is not accurate. “There’s no bunker with firearms on the wall,” he said. “That’s an example of inaccuracy, but I did look kind of cool.”
In an interview with Vulture last week, Guadagnino said that he isn’t wary of potential backlash from Altman and his other OpenAI associates depicted in the film. “I don’t know — maybe they love the movie,” he said, adding: “I’m not afraid. I think that people that have a lot of power should be very much aware that you must be responsible for the community.”
Read Altman’s full Vanity Fair profile here.
