A24 said the research partnership with Google’s DeepMind division was meant to “get a seat at the table” on Hollywood’s assessment of AI, after fans criticized independent studios for adopting AI technology.
“This is a research partnership,” A24 communications director Sophia Singh said of the deal in a statement first reported by Wired. “We are actively working with DeepMind researchers to learn, iterate, build, and shape new tools and workflows.”
“Our relationship with our viewers is something we do not take for granted,” the statement continued. “This partnership exists because we want to decide what tools we build for artists, so they can have a say in shaping it, rather than being handed the tools. We’d rather have a seat at the table than sit on the sidelines.”
The partnership, announced by the studio and Google on Monday, will give A24 and its technology division, A24 Labs, access to DeepMind’s research and infrastructure, while the division’s researchers will work with the studio to build new workflows and understand what tools filmmakers need. The deal does not give Google access to A24’s content library or its data, nor does it obligate filmmakers to use the tools. Frustrated A24 fans took to social media, leaving comments on the studio’s Instagram and X posts accusing A24 of betraying its viewers.
“What’s going on with the AI collaboration? Do you know the fan base?” one Instagram comment read promoting the upcoming A24 film The Debut, while another X user wrote that the deal showed “stinking” behavior.
The controversial deal represents the latest marriage between Hollywood studios and AI at a time when companies have been figuring out how to tackle ever-present technology while protecting copyright and intellectual property. Disney’s deal with OpenAI to license its character suite was short-lived as it sued AI companies like MiniMax and Midjourney for copyright infringement, but Lionsgate this month expanded its partnership with AI company Runway to develop new franchises and produce AI-generated shows that leverage existing IP. Earlier this year, Netflix also acquired Ben Affleck’s AI startup Interpositive, which aims to build tools for filmmakers.
DeepMind CEO and co-founder Demis Hassabis said in a blog post this week that the company believes “the best way to develop tools that empower artists is to work directly with them.”
“By collaborating with filmmakers and industry leaders like A24 from the beginning, we can build new AI capabilities that support authentic and meaningful storytelling to bring artists’ creative visions to life,” he wrote.
Some A24 filmmakers have been outspoken in their condemnation of the introduction of AI into the filmmaking process.
In an interview with The Australian earlier this month, Backroom director Kane Parsons called generative AI “a symptom of broader cultural and economic corruption” and said that while there may be examples of its use in VFX productions, “there’s so much at stake and so many really harmful outcomes already happening that it’s hard to discuss it objectively.”
“I think I’m in the same situation as most well-adjusted people,” he told the newspaper. “If I could snap my fingers and make generation AI disappear forever, I would. Creatively, I don’t get any enjoyment out of using these tools. It completely defeats the purpose for me.”
Heretics directors Scott Beck and Brian Woods included a disclaimer in the credits of their A24-distributed films that said “No generative AI was used in the making of this film,” but Beck said the studio was fine with leaving it there.
“We’re in a time where we feel like we’re in one of the great ethical battles creatively, and that race is already ahead of us,” Beck told Variety at the time. “The key is to have these conversations before you force things in, just because it makes sense in the structure of the company. This is very dangerous. If you don’t have someone to rein you in, you’re going to end up in a very dangerous situation in five to 10 years.”
