Google invests in independent movie studio A24 as part of a new AI partnership; sources say Google is investing ~$75M, roughly equal to Thrive's 2024 investment
Search giant is putting about $75 million into the film company as part of an artificial-intelligence research partnership
Wall Street JournalBen Fritz
Context & Ripple Effects
Google’s reported A24 investment extends a pattern in the coverage of pairing capital with strategic AI relationships. Its earlier Anthropic investments were tied to cloud usage, and later reporting described discussions to deepen that position.
This move places an independent studio alongside Google’s AI investment activity rather than treating media solely as a customer market. The reported size is also comparable to Thrive’s 2024 A24 investment, making it a meaningful financing event for the studio.
First-order effects
A24 gains roughly $75 million of reported funding and enters an AI research partnership with Google.
Google obtains a formal research relationship with a film studio, expanding its AI partnership portfolio beyond the AI companies highlighted in prior coverage.
Second-order effects
A24’s existing investors, including Thrive, now have a major technology company alongside them, potentially changing the studio’s access to technical resources and strategic partners.
Other studios and media companies may face pressure to evaluate similar AI research partnerships as technology firms seek closer relationships with content businesses.
Third-order effects
If such arrangements proliferate, AI investment in entertainment could shift from arm’s-length software procurement toward equity-linked research partnerships that more closely align technology suppliers and media owners.
The key structural question will be whether these partnerships remain limited research collaborations or become a broader route for large AI platforms to gain influence in creative-industry workflows and IP ecosystems.
The trend: Major technology companies are increasingly using strategic investment alongside AI partnerships to secure closer, sector-specific relationships beyond the core AI model ecosystem.
A studio whose entire brand is taste (@A24) made @GoogleDeepMind a research partner, and noted it's not about making faster or cheaper movies. The slop machine and the taste machine are one and the same. The difference is who's steering/verifying. https://x.com/...
We're launching a research partnership with @A24 to ensure the tools of the future are shaped by the creators who use them. Excited to work with @scottbelsky and team! Find out more → https://blog.google/... [image]
there are better uses of storytelling tech to discover, ones that preserve creative control and support creative risk-taking. these workflows are TBD, but excited for our Labs team to work w/ DeepMind team in this research partnership. shared curiosities, and asking the right qu…
incredible how Backrooms marketing and so much of the director's stuff involves talking about how cool Blender is and how anyone can use it for production. To see that from A24 and then decide ‘yeah we need to push for ai’ is just insane. We really are in the worst timeline
SITUATION EXPLAINED: Google just invested $75M in A24. • Multi-year AI research partnership with DeepMind • A24's catalog: Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Brutalist, Civil War, Backrooms, Euphoria • The deal does not give Google access to A24's content library, no A24 [vid…
Google DeepMind 🤝 @A24 We're launching a research partnership with A24 to ensure the tools of the future are shaped by the creators who use them. Find out more → https://blog.google/... [image]
“If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.” -Kane Parsons, the guy who just made A24 277.5 million dollars last month.
Google is investing about $75 million in “Backrooms” studio A24 as part of a far-reaching and possibly controversial AI research partnership between the two companies. Scoop here: https://www.wsj.com/...
Hollywood and the AI industry have been eyeing each other warily for years now. Silicon Valley thinks traditional entertainment moves painfully slow. …
I predict this will go great and absolutely everyone will be happy about the creative and IP outcomes that result. Definitely no problems. [embedded post]
“A24 is going full AI slop” is a correct take. — I think another take folks are missing: This can smooth the transition for YouTube filmmakers from the internet to the big screen — www.wsj.com/tech/ai/goog...
Google Investing in ‘Backrooms’ Studio A24 - Search giant is putting about $75 million into the film company as part of an artificial-intelligence research partnership.