A24 and Google DeepMind to Form an AI Venture

A24 is getting into the AI game, inking a joint venture with Google DeepMind.

The film studio and the Google AI lab will develop AI tools together that can be used by the studio’s filmmakers and also funnel back into the Google ecosystem. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. As part of the deal DeepMind will invest $75 million in the project.

DeepMind has collaborations with individual filmmakers like Darren Aronofsky, but this is the first known partnership with a full-fledged studio. Google is one of the few tech giants to have a video generator, the well-regarded Veo, and the deal is likely to further involve them in that game

“We believe the best way to develop tools that empower artists is to work directly with them,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in a statement posted on Google’s website. “By collaborating with filmmakers and industry leaders like A24 from the beginning, we can build new AI features to support artists in authentic, meaningful storytelling that helps enable their creative vision.”

Meanwhile the deal catches up A24 to where some of its competitors have already landed, with Netflix and Prime Video developing tools for filmmakers and Lionsgate building models in collaboration with startup payer Runway AI.

The move is sure to accelerate the advent of AI into movies and television we watch, while also deepening a debate about how, or if, directors, should use these weighted models as part of their workflow. Some noted auteurs have taken a decided no to that stance, but a growing group of A-listers seem at least willing to entertain it.

The announcement fits A24’s brand as a forward-looking entertainment company while also figuring in interestingly to the biggest theatrical success in its history, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, which came out last month. The film was of course directed by a filmmaker who honed his craft and built an audience on a Google/YouTube platform, while influencers themselves are expected to use more AI tools in the coming year.

More to come.