A24 has apparently decided that just distributing the film Ex Machina isn’t enough—it needs to make it real. The film production and distribution darling has entered an agreement with Google that will see the tech giant pour $75 million into the studio as part of what is being positioned as an artificial intelligence research partnership.
What does that mean? It seems, per Google’s press release, that A24 will gain access to Google DeepMind’s lab and the brains within to hit a bunch of buzzwords. “The partnership represents the beginning of a collaborative journey, one rooted in research and shared curiosity. While the initial focus is on bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and next generation entertainment, the specific goals, technical outputs and creative milestones of this initiative will evolve over time,” Google said. Variety reported something slightly more specific, at least, stating that Google’s team will work with A24 to build out new workflows.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, A24 partner Scott Belsky said that, unlike other Hollywood studios that have gotten into bed with AI companies, this agreement won’t be focused on pitching ways that AI can be used in the filmmaking process. Instead, it’ll focus on injecting the technology into the production process, not unlike Martin Scorsese’s recent endorsement of the use of AI for storyboarding (which, it’s worth remembering, is a creative field that employs people who will likely be pushed out by this technology).
A24 partner Scott Belsky offered a bit more detail in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Unlike other Hollywood studios that have partnered with AI companies, he said, A24 is not looking for ways to use AI to make films themselves. Instead, the agreement will focus on incorporating the technology into production workflows—similar to Martin Scorsese’s recent endorsement of AI-assisted storyboarding (which, it’s worth remembering, is a creative field that employs people who might be pushed out of the industry by this technology.
“We think there are better uses that preserve creative control and support risk-taking,” he told the Journal, arguing the new tools “won’t look anything like the prompted generation type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with.”
Importantly, Google reportedly will not get access to A24’s content library or data, so you probably won’t be able to use Google’s Nano Banana image generation tool to create your own version of “Backrooms” (well, at least not officially—we know copyrighted material has a habit of finding its way into the training data of these models).
That’s a small consolation for the fact that A24, one of the few studios in Hollywood primarily focused on original voices and ideas, has found itself in the pocket of Big Tech venture capitalists. Back in 2024, the studio took a hefty investment from Thrive Capital, which was founded by Donald Trump’s favorite son-in-law, Jared Kushner. It’s all just a very good reminder that films cost money to make, and most of the people with the money suck.
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