Amazon MGM drops Sam Altman film about OpenAI turmoil

The Verge reported that Amazon MGM has dropped Artificial, a Luca Guadagnino film about the five-day 2023 OpenAI board crisis that ended with Sam Altman's return as CEO. The project reportedly stars Andrew Garfield as Altman and includes portrayals of Mira Murati, Elon Musk, and Ilya Sutskever. The studio said the film would be better served by a different distributor and is working with the filmmakers to find a new home. The item is a softer culture story, but it still sits inside the OpenAI/Amazon relationship because Amazon has deep AI ties and investment exposure.

Key details: Published June 19, 2026 at 14:15 UTC, Amazon MGM dropped Artificial, a film about OpenAI's 2023 leadership crisis, The film was directed by Luca Guadagnino and stars Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman, The studio said it is working to find the project a new home.

Why it matters: It is not a core model or policy story, but it shows how the OpenAI board crisis has become mainstream media material while Amazon's AI relationship sits in the background.