Luca Guadagnino has made it clear that AI was never involved in Artificial. That is saying something considering how turbulent the film’s journey has been. The biographical comedy-drama has faced plenty of setbacks since it was first conceived.

It has been passed over by one studio after another even after production wrapped. The team also dealt with creative disagreements as they tried to figure out exactly what the film should be. But through all of that, AI was never brought into the filmmaking process.

Luca Guadagnino recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss Artificial. While talking about the movie-making process, the filmmaker made it clear that "zero AI" was used in its making. He added that the same goes for every project he has worked on.   

"I’m an old-fashioned guy. I’m analogic. I shoot on 35. I believe in good old performance," he said. 

"'You have to leave the door open to reality on a movie set.' And how do you do that if you are sending prompts to a computer?" He added to the THR interview, quoting Jean Renoir.

At its heart, Artificial is a high-stakes tech thriller mixed with dark satire and horror. The film follows the evolution of OpenAI and leads up to the historic five-day coup that sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley. With a story this controversial, the trouble surrounding the movie was hardly a surprise to its creators.

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The filmmakers were aware from the outset that a Big Tech critique coming from an Amazon-owned studio could be a difficult sell. 

In January 2024, Simon Rich pitched the film to Amazon MGM Studios. Back then, the studio quickly embraced the idea and backed the project. But by February 2026, the situation had changed dramatically. Amazon signed a $50 billion multi-year strategic partnership with OpenAI, creating a deep financial connection between the two companies.

Once Amazon walked away, the film became a radioactive asset in Hollywood. Its decision to take aim at some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures made the nearly finished project a tough sell in Hollywood. Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros., and A24 all passed on the movie as concerns over its controversial subject matter, mixed test-screening reactions, and the possibility of tech-industry backlash until NEON stepped in.

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