Mountainhead writer and director Jesse Armstrong has said he’s “pretty sure that the AI companies have been scraping my material along with everyone else’s to train their large language models,” and that to find the right voices for the movie’s tech-bro characters, “I’ve been scraping them back.”
Mountainhead, which lands on HBO this weekend, is a dark satire about a group of tech billionaires who retreat to a secluded mountain lodge during a global crisis — a crisis that’s exacerbated by their own creations, including highly convincing AI-generated deepfakes and a social media platform that fuels misinformation and instability.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on Tuesday by the BBC’s The World Tonight, Armstrong said that his “scraping” process involved accessing large amounts of content online to help him shape the characters’ voices, “especially the tech CEOs and founders, because they all make themselves available on innumerable podcast and TED talks.”
The Succession showrunner and co-writer added: “It was crucial for me to tune into their particular voices, partly the vocabulary, a bit the philosophy, the whole package of how they approach the world with this tremendous confidence. Getting that voice was actually the reason that I pitched the film because I couldn’t get that overweening confident voice out of my head, and it’s a funny voice because it lacks a certain amount of self-awareness.”
AI companies like ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Google, and Meta are known to use (or scrape) online content to train their large language models (LLMs), which power the AI platforms. It’s a controversial issue, with creators understandably upset at having their content used without permission, recognition, or payment.
On the topic of how generative AI could impact his own industry, Armstrong commented that “eventually it will be able to do pretty much everything.”
When asked if it can already write as well as him, Armstrong laughed, saying, “People can judge for themselves,” adding, “At the moment, the part of it which is creative is somewhat limited. Their large language models are predictive and they give you a bit of what you want and a bit of what they think might come next so they’re pretty good at mimicry, not great at creativity. But I’m sure that part will come.”
Mountainhead premieres on HBO on Saturday, May 31.
Chinese smartphone brand, Honor, is usually at the helm of camera-centric smartphone innovations and delivering ultra-slim foldable phones. For its ne
Apple WWDC This story is part of our complete Apple WWDC coverage Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is just two months away, and that mea
OpenAI seems to be announcing new AI models by the week to improve its ChatGPT chatbot for the betterment of its 400 million users. However, the ease
Google is steadily rolling out contextual improvements to Gemini that make it easier for users to derive AI’s benefits across its core products. For e
ElevenLabs, the buzzy New York-based company specializing in AI audio tools, is diving headfirst into the world of audiobook publishing. Merely days a
The AI frenzy has gripped every smartphone maker in 2025. Unfortunately, not all of it has been as revolutionary as on-stage presentations would have
We are a dynamic information platform dedicated to delivering timely, relevant, and reliable content across a broad spectrum of topics. From the latest in technology and business to lifestyle, health, and global affairs, we aim to keep our readers informed and inspired.
Our editorial team is committed to maintaining high standards of accuracy and clarity, ensuring that every article provides value and context in an ever-changing world. We believe in the importance of accessible knowledge and strive to make complex topics understandable for everyone.
Whether you're here to stay updated on current events, explore thought-provoking features, or simply learn something new, our goal is to offer a trustworthy source of information that meets the needs of a diverse and curious audience.