Deepfaking Sam Altman

Deepfaking Sam Altman
Directed byAdam Bhala Lough
Produced byLuke Kelly-Clyne, Bryan Smiley, Kevin Hart
StarringDivyendra Singh Jadoun
Kara Swisher
Rainn Wilson
CinematographyChristopher Messina
Edited byAlex MacKenzie
Production
companies
Hartbeat
All Facts
Vox Media Studios
Distributed byAbramorama
Release date
  • March 8, 2025 (2025-03-08) (SXSW)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Deepfaking Sam Altman is a 2025 American documentary film about artificial intelligence. In the film, director Adam Bhala Lough attempts to conduct an interview with OpenAI founder Sam Altman, only to be denied every opportunity. He instead resorts to creating an AI ChatBot programmed off Altman's personality, leading to unexpected questions about humanity's future and our relationship with emerging technology. The film premiered at SXSW and received a limited theatrical release in 2026.[1]

Plot

When Los Angeles filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough fails to land an interview with the elusive Sam Altman, he travels to India to deepfake the tech CEO, only to create a glitchy LLM "Sam Bot" that moves into his home, befriends his son and begins co-directing the movie. As Sam Bot grows more lifelike, Adam is forced to decide whether to delete the AI he accidentally brought to life.

Production

The film was shot in India, Jamaica, and the United States throughout 2024.[citation needed]

Release

The film premiered at SXSW on March 8, 2025. It was subsequently featured at DC/DOX Film Festival, Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, New Hampshire Film Festival, Boise Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival, and the Coronado Island Film Festival.[citation needed]

The trailer was officially released exclusively by Wired on December 18, 2025.[2]

The film had its New York premiere on January 16, 2026 at the Quad Cinema, before receiving a limited theatrical run later in the year.[3]

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[4]

In a positive review for The New York Times, Ben Kenigsberg said that the "film simultaneously illustrates the deficiencies of generative A.I. and the dangers of investing in it emotionally, while remaining annoying and self-amused in a distinctly human way.[5] Rolling Stone called it a "globe-trotting, thought-provoking, utterly surreal exploration of how far today’s AI can be pushed and whether it can ever really substitute for human ingenuity."[6]

In a mixed review for The A.V. Club, Jacob Oller criticized the film's use of generative AI, saying that "turning to generative AI for your filmmaking, even to make a point about its own uselessness, is to accept defeat."[7]

Accolades

The film won Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Chelsea Film Festival.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Deepfaking Sam Altman". DC/DOX. Retrieved 2025-12-15.
  2. ^ Parham, Jason. "A Filmmaker Made a Sam Altman Deepfake—and Got Unexpectedly Attached". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  3. ^ "Deepfaking Sam Altman". Quad Cinema. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  4. ^ "Deepfaking Sam Altman". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  5. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (January 15, 2026). "'Deepfaking Sam Altman' Review: Altmanesque". NY Times. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  6. ^ Klee, Miles (2026-01-15). "This Filmmaker Couldn't Get an Interview With the CEO of OpenAI. He Created a Bot Version Instead". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  7. ^ "Nothing says "giving up" like letting an AI-generated Sam Altman direct your movie". AV Club. Retrieved 2026-05-07.
  8. ^ "CFF 2025 WINNERS". Chelsea Film Festival. Retrieved 2025-12-15.

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