{
  "id": 12635388,
  "title": "Artificial Is a Hugely Entertaining Movie About Despair for the Future",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/artificial-is-a-hugely-entertaining-movie-about-despair-for-the-future",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-07T13:00:14.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Time",
    "slug": "time",
    "url": "https://time.com/article/2026/10/06/artificial-review-andrew-garfield-sam-altman/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In late summer 2026, many people were preoccupied with their daily challenges, such as balancing work and life or worrying about the rising costs of gas and groceries. However, a warning would soon disrupt their thoughts. Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon came forward to warn that, given the current irresponsibility of the companies in charge, artificial intelligence could easily spiral out of control and \"kill us all by the end of the decade.\" This imminent threat of human extinction surpassed the slow-burning decline caused by global warming, and it became a concern worth adding to the list of worries.\n\nLuca Guadagnino's tragicomedy \"Artificial,\" which premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 5 and opened in limited release on December 25, if the world had not ended by then, serves as a stark reminder of how we arrived at this point and leaves only a faint glimmer of hope that the disaster can be averted. However, \"Artificial\" is not entirely devoid of hope, as it primarily focuses on the ideals that have gone astray and the consequences of brilliant, optimistic scientists failing to comprehend the true danger of their creation.\n\nThe film opens in 2003, in the University of Toronto lab of Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as the \"godfather of AI.\" The story concludes with a postscript from Hinton, emphasizing the urgency of curbing AI's capabilities as soon as possible. Despite its potentially ominous and oppressive layers, \"Artificial\" is a movie filled with life and humor. Ike Barinholtz delivers a standout performance as a circa-2015 Elon Musk, who exudes a comically intoxicated demeanor rather than a dangerous one.\n\nWhile Elon Musk plays a minor role in \"Artificial,\" Andrew Garfield's portrayal of OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman is the movie's true star. Garfield delivers an unnerving and malevolent performance, showcasing Altman's manipulative nature and absence of concern for the consequences of his actions. The film's central character is OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever, portrayed by Yura Borisov. Borisov's Ilya is a shy 17-year-old from the University of Toronto who initially seeks mentorship from Hinton but quickly becomes an integral part of the AI development team at Google.\n\nIlya's partnership with Hinton and the subsequent move to Google forms the foundation of their high hopes for the potential of artificial intelligence to improve humanity. Their collaboration results in the formation of OpenAI, a nonprofit with the intent of maintaining control over AI development. In 2015, Altman invites Ilya to a private dinner in Menlo Park called \"A Dinner for the Future,\" where Ilya outlines his vision for a future in which AI will have eradicated not only cancer but also loneliness and unhappiness.\n\nAs the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Altman, the man presiding over the dinner, is a cunning and evil villain. Guadagnino, screenwriter Simon Rich, and Garfield have crafted him as a pure sociopath, a conniving agent of chaos with a cold demeanor and malevolent glint in his eyes. Garfield's portrayal of Altman is both hilarious and chilling, capturing the essence of this manipulative character who holds the fate of humanity in his hands, leading the world to its end not with a bang but with a tech bro.",
  "summary": "In his portrait of Sam Altman and the rise of OpenAI, Luca Guadagnino has made a movie that's despairing, but also exhilarating.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}