Google is investing roughly $75 million in the independent film studio A24 and launching a multi-year research partnership between A24 and its DeepMind AI unit to build tools for filmmakers, the companies said on June 22. It is the first time Alphabet has taken an equity stake in a movie studio.
The deal gives A24 access to DeepMind’s research and computing infrastructure, with DeepMind researchers working alongside A24’s filmmakers from pre-production through distribution. An early focus is AI-generated storyboards, the rough visual sketches directors use to plan scenes. The check matches the $75 million Thrive Capital put into A24 in 2024, when the studio was valued at $3.5 billion.
The structure is built to ease creative-industry concerns. The agreement is nonexclusive, so A24 can work with other AI firms and DeepMind with other studios, and it does not give Google access to A24’s film library or training data.
The work runs through A24 Labs, a roughly 20-person team led by Scott Belsky, a former Adobe executive. Belsky argued the partnership differs from other AI deals that, in his view, oversold the technology as a way to make films cheaper and faster. The goal, he said, is tools that “preserve creative control and support risk-taking,” rather than the prompt-driven generation that has made many filmmakers uneasy. DeepMind framed it as a way to build tools by working directly with artists.
The timing is delicate. A24 has built a devoted, young following on filmmaker-driven hits like Moonlight, Everything Everywhere All at Once and the recent box-office record-setter Backrooms, about 85% of whose opening-weekend audience was under 35. That audience is wary of AI.
A Pew study published last week found that about half of adults under 30 believe AI will harm society. The friction is close to home: Backrooms director Kane Parsons has criticized generative AI, calling its spread “a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.” A24’s next project is its biggest yet, a roughly $175 million Elden Ring film from Alex Garland.
A Different Pitch
A24 and DeepMind are selling this as augmentation, not automation. By keeping data off-limits, staying nonexclusive and focusing on workflow tools rather than full content generation, the deal is designed to preserve A24’s independent brand while giving DeepMind real feedback from working filmmakers.
The approach reflects a wider shift, in which AI companies seek deep partnerships with creative firms to build practical tools instead of releasing general-purpose models and hoping for adoption. For Google, the sum is tiny against a balance sheet that produced more than $100 billion in revenue last quarter, but the access to Hollywood talent is the real prize.
The Hollywood-AI Standoff
The deal lands amid an uneasy relationship between Hollywood and AI developers. Disney’s short-lived deal to license characters to OpenAI collapsed this year when OpenAI pulled its Sora video tool, and Disney has sued AI firms including MiniMax and Midjourney over copyright.
Lionsgate expanded a partnership with Runway to make AI shows from its franchises, while Netflix bought Ben Affleck’s AI startup InterPositive. Google itself is spending heavily on AI more broadly, including a commitment of up to $40 billion to Anthropic. Whether A24’s careful, creator-first framing wins over a skeptical fanbase, or simply draws the same backlash, will be an early test of how studios can partner with AI without alienating the artists and audiences they depend on.
