Breaking

Google Backs A24 With About $75M in DeepMind Film-AI Partnership

June 23, 2026 at 18:49 EDT

Funding & M&A
Media Generation
AI Agents

Google is investing roughly $75 million in independent film studio A24 and has struck a multi-year AI research partnership with its Google DeepMind unit, as revealed on June 22, 2026. The two companies will jointly develop AI tools for use on the filmmaking floor. It marks Google's first direct investment in a movie studio.

June 22, 2026 · Google DeepMind × A24

DeepMind Takes a $75M Stake in A24 — and a Seat in the Editing Room

In its first direct investment in a movie studio, Google DeepMind pairs an equity stake with a multi-year research partnership to co-build AI filmmaking tools — framed as augmenting creators, not replacing them.

~$75M

Equity invested in A24

1st

DeepMind stake in a movie studio

Multi‑yr

Joint research term

More than a licensing deal — what's actually in it

Scope

AI tools for A24 filmmakers — e.g. AI-assisted storyboards

Builders

DeepMind researchers + A24 Labs (Scott Belsky)

Data use

Google will not train on A24 content

Exclusivity

Non-exclusive; no exclusive access to library

The intended line in the sand

"Tools that preserve creative control" — explicitly not prompted generation that makes video straight from text.

✓ Augment

Creators shape the tools; production support like storyboarding

✕ Replace

Text-to-video "prompted generation" — outside the deal's framing

Welcomed

Supporters back the "control-preserving tools" framing and see real value for production support such as storyboarding.

Criticized

Fans of the indie studio call it a betrayal of its spirit; ~half of under‑30s view AI as harmful to society.

Still early: tools remain in development — no model names, release dates, pricing or benchmarks disclosed, and no real-world usage assessment yet.

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