Google is investing about $75 million in A24 and pairing DeepMind researchers with the studio to build AI tools for filmmakers. An early project: AI-generated storyboards.
2026-06-22 · by Moe Ameen
Google and the independent film studio A24 announced a research and development partnership on June 22, 2026, pairing A24's filmmakers with Google DeepMind to build AI tools for moviemaking. Google is making an investment in A24 reported to be in the range of about $75 million — a figure the Wall Street Journal reports is in line with what Thrive Capital put in during the studio's last funding round. Both companies framed it as a deep, multi-project collaboration that will evolve over time rather than a one-off product launch.
The companies were explicit about what the deal is not. Reporting from Variety and Deadline describes it as a research partnership, not a production deal, an IP deal, or a data-training deal: Google does not gain access to A24's content library or proprietary data, and A24 keeps creative control. In exchange, A24 gets access to DeepMind's research and infrastructure, and DeepMind researchers work directly with the studio's artists to shape new production workflows. An early focus, per Variety, is A24 Labs building applications for AI-generated storyboards — the rough visual sketches directors use to plan a scene before shooting.
The stated philosophy is assistive, not generative-by-prompt. DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said the company believes "the best way to develop tools that empower artists is to work directly with them," adding that collaborating with filmmakers from the start lets it "build new AI features to support artists in authentic, meaningful storytelling." Eli Collins, DeepMind's VP of Product, said the company believes "breakthroughs happen when you get technology into the hands of the best minds in the field." A24 Labs' Scott Belsky said the studio is after uses that "preserve creative control and support risk-taking" and that the result "won't look anything like the prompted generation type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with." No specific tool, model, pricing, or release date for the work was announced.
It is worth being clear-eyed about who this is for. The DeepMind–A24 work is years-out studio research aimed at feature filmmakers, starting with storyboarding — there is nothing here an independent creator can sign up for. The everyday creator's problem was never planning a $30M film; it is shipping consistent, on-brand content every week across every platform. Kompozy is the engine built for that problem today. It already generates finished video — HeyGen talking-head Persona Shorts, the Persona HeyGen Video Agent, a fal.ai VFX hook on Persona VFX HeyGen, and avatars composited into brand-exact HyperFrames templates — plus carousels, photos, quote cards, blogs, and newsletters, then schedules and publishes the lot across nine platforms. You do not need a research partnership to get studio-style consistency; the Persona Brief and face-lock hold your look and voice steady across an entire campaign.
That contrast is also the content. "Google is paying $75M to build AI for A24 — here's what it actually means for the rest of us" is exactly the high-intent question your audience is asking this week. Drop your take into Kompozy as a source and the engine fans one point of view into a blog post explaining the studio-versus-creator divide, a carousel breaking down what the deal does and does not include, short captioned clips, and platform-native posts in your own voice — generated and scheduled in a single pass across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, and the rest. The studios get a research lab; you get a publishing pipeline that runs today.
On June 22, 2026, Google and A24 announced a research and development partnership pairing A24's filmmakers with Google DeepMind to build AI tools for moviemaking. Google is investing a reported ~$75 million in the studio, and an early project is developing AI-generated storyboards.
No. Reporting from Variety and Deadline describes it as a research partnership rather than a production, IP, or data-training deal. Google does not gain access to A24's content library or proprietary data, and A24 retains creative control while gaining access to DeepMind's research and infrastructure.
The investment is reported to be in the range of about $75 million, which the Wall Street Journal reports is in line with what Thrive Capital invested in A24's previous funding round. Exact terms were not publicly detailed.
Not at this point. It is a studio-focused research collaboration with no announced product, model, pricing, or release date. Independent creators who want to generate and publish content today use a creator-ready engine like Kompozy, which renders video, images, and copy and schedules them across nine platforms.