The time of the tech titans is here. Actually, it has been here for a long time, but rarely have the wealthy prophets been so visible and so outspoken about the future as now. Lately, the forecasts have been so bleak that reality finally seems poised to surpass the poem.
No wonder that powerful geek moguls have become the new favorite subject of moving pictures.
Recently, the documentary "Musk" had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Later this autumn, films such as "The social reckoning", Aaron Sorkin's sequel about Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook after the acclaimed "The social network" (2010), are expected, followed by Luca Guadagnino's acclaimed "Artificial" with Andrew Garfield in the role of Open AI leader Sam Altman.
Even in the world of TV series, the topic is hot. The first season of the upcoming anthology series "War" depicts the separation between a tech giant (Dominic West) and a movie star (Sienna Miller). The divorce drama appears almost symbolic of the rift between the tech and film worlds, where it is now springtime for portraits of technology profiles. It is hardly about any tributes. Black paintings, the figures themselves would probably argue. Are we seeing the creative man's offensive against the machines? Is the tech titan becoming the big movie villain of our time?
“We need to slow down the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models.” So wrote Dario Amodei, CEO of industry giant Anthropic. Surprisingly, the plea was supported by both Elon Musk and Sam Altman. The idea is hardly new, especially among movie buffs who have seen HAL 9000 derail in 2001 (1968) and Skynet cause doomsday in the Terminator movies. In a BBC interview in 2014, Stephen Hawking expressed himself as clearly as he did dystopianly: "The development of truly advanced artificial intelligence could be the downfall of humanity."
In the same year, "Ex machina" premiered. The British "The beach" author Alex Garland made his directorial debut with a claustrophobic tech thriller in which Domhnall Gleeson develops feelings for Alicia Vikander's AI-powered android, created by Oscar Isaac's technology mogul. "In recent years I have become increasingly fascinated by artificial intelligence and especially by our growing fear of it," Garland later wrote in The New York Times.
The interest was shared by more filmmakers. Romantic "Her" (2013) was joined by "Transcendence" (2014), "Automata" (2014) and "Chappie" (2015). The children got their dose in "Big hero 6" (2014) and the adult babies in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015). "Among filmmakers, the AI party was already in full swing when we showed up," noted Garland.
But for him, technology is not the most interesting thing. We voluntarily surround ourselves with devices we barely understand, but the machines are not driving any agenda. It's about the people behind them, "the consumers who want to buy the machines and the manufacturers who want to sell them". The big villain is spelled capitalism.
Garland returned to similar questions in “Devs” (2020), a miniseries mystery about a Silicon Valley company developing quantum computers and a CEO whose visions are at least as terrifying as the technology. What fascinates him is less the personality traits of tech leaders than the messianic aura attributed to them by consumers, media and employees.
The connection between tech leaders and religious iconography is well established. In the cyberpunk classic "Blade Runner" (1982), company manager Eldon Tyrell is surrounded by an almost godlike aura and his replicants resemble fallen angels.
Even though the godlike tech leader is older than Musk, the Tesla founder does his best to live up to the role. He builds self-driving cars, dreams of colonizing Mars, and holds his revival meetings in the form of posts on his media platform X.
Alex Gibney's documentary makes no secret of its view of the protagonist, portrayed as a danger to democracy rather than a visionary innovator. An influential dollar billionaire who seems to seriously believe that we live in one big simulation created by the people of the future (?). The fact that Musk already before the premiere called the director "a terrible person" and threatened legal action has hardly softened the lines of conflict.
Aaron Sorkin takes an, at least on the surface, more diplomatic stance toward Mark Zuckerberg. If "The social network" was about the creation of Facebook, according to Sorkin, "The social reckoning" should be about what the platform has become. The film revolves around the whistleblower who revealed that Meta knew parts of his social impact without acting. "I can't judge Mark Zuckerberg while I'm writing," says Sorkin in an interview with Vanity Fair. "You have to write the character as if they are arguing before God why they should be allowed into heaven."
The problem with reality-based tech titan portraits is, of course, that the people are still alive – and if the depiction upsets the wrong people, it can cost the filmmakers dearly.
A good starting point for creating nuanced characters, as the best antagonists rarely see themselves as villains. Gray areas are more interesting than black and white, and feature film offers a unique opportunity to explore them. The problem with reality-based tech titan portraits is, of course, that the people are still alive – and if the depiction upsets the wrong people, it can cost the filmmakers dearly. "We haven't heard a word from anyone other than their lawyers," says Sorkin. "Be careful, they just say."
Precise caution has characterized Hollywood's handling of Guadagnino's "Artificial," about the dramatic days when Sam Altman was first ousted and then reinstated as Open AI CEO. The film was produced by Amazon MGM, which suspiciously abandoned the project shortly after news of Amazon's billion-dollar investment in Open AI. Despite positive test screenings, a touch of panic spread among the studios and the film ended up in distribution limbo until Neon secured its future.
If killing machines were the threats on the big screen for a long time, now the eyes are directed towards the man behind them. Enough with eerie computer voices and glowing red eyes, ones and zeros, clouds and algorithms. This fall, evil takes on human faces.
How then should one briefly summarize this new film villain? I ask Chat GPT and get the answer: “The benevolent visionary, he is manipulative, intelligent and power-hungry.” Thanks, we already knew that.
But what does he look like? "Well-groomed", "slim", "easy smile", "gives an intelligent and controlled impression", "charismatic radiance".
I'm guessing Chat GPT hasn't seen the new "Musk" documentary yet.
