Martin Scorsese invests in AI company and uses AI storyboards, triggering industry backlash

Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, usually hailed as a master filmmaker and scholar of cinema, is facing backlash for promoting a company that offers generative AI products.

The iconic director has spent decades building a reputation as a staunch defender of human artistry.

Read this article to understand why and how Martin Scorsese is embracing AI in filmmaking, and why his decision has received stron

Could the next “Goodfellas” be fully made with AI? Or perhaps the next “Wolf of Wall Street”? Martin Scorsese likely wouldn’t do that — yet. But the 83-year-old Oscar-winning director has become the latest auteur to embrace the technology on after he joined the German AI firm Black Forest Labs as an adviser. Scorsese is the highest-profile […]

Martin Scorsese pictured in November 2025Martin Scorsese is facing criticism after it was announced that he is investing in an AI tech company specifically aimed at the film industry.On Wednesday, it was revealed that the Oscar-winning filmmaker has become an advisor to the AI brand Black Forest Labs, which specialises in text-to-speech generative AI.While there’s no suggestion he intends to use it to help with storyboarding in the early stages of his filmmaking process.“I’m interested in the intersection of technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences,” he said in a statement (as reported by BBC News).“Remember, cinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve.”He added: “For 70 years, I’ve been creating my own storyboards. There’s always been this problem of how do you communicate what you see in your head to your cast and crew. There are some things you have to see and feel.“Now with this tool, I can share what I’m visualising more clearly and efficiently to my creative team.”AI, of course, has become a hugely divisive issue within creative industries over the last few years, and was a major point of contention in the 2023 Hollywood strikes.Since Scorsese’s announcement, he has faced backlash from many in the film industry, who have accused him of “throwing” storyboard artists “under the bus”.One such critic was the artist Karla Ortiz, who has previously worked on numerous Marvel projects.“He throws every single storyboard artist he’s ever worked with under the bus, as he demolishes their livelihoods with models that are likely trained on those storyboard artist’s same works,” Karla claimed. “To use his legacy and power for this is just so disgusting.”He throws every single storyboard artist he’s ever worked with under the bus, as he demolishes their livelihoods with models that are likely trained on those story board artist’s same works.To use his legacy and power for this is just so disgusting. https://t.co/1X4YvfTI8s— Karla Ortiz (@kortizart) June 2, 2026TV director Samuel Deats also wrote on X that it takes “literally seconds for me to storyboard a shot”, insisting: “There is absolutely no reason to need AI built on the stolen work of millions of artists to storyboard your vision, have some damn pride and respect your peers.”It takes literally seconds for me to storyboard a shot, there is absolutely no reason to need AI built on the stolen work of millions of artists to storyboard your vision, have some damn pride and respect your peers https://t.co/kgsKZ5cTvP— Samuel Deats 🌕 (@SamuelDeats) June 2, 2026Others also pointed out that in a previous video featuring himself and his daughter Francesca, Scorsese seemed to baulk at the concept of using “AI for cinema”.There's no way this is the same Martin Scorsese.... https://t.co/sxiBD59Hrepic.twitter.com/Fl6tmjnC9O— Sethy (@Brizksie) June 2, 2026HuffPost UK has contacted Martin Scorsese’s team for comment.Scorsese is best known as the director of films like Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Wolf Of Wall Street and The Departed, for which he earned his Best Director win at the Oscars.He is far from the only prolific filmmaker to face contention for his endorsement of generative AI.Earlier this year, the announcement that Darren Arnofsky had produced a new series using AI animation was met with outcry, and while James Cameron joined the board of the AI company Stability AI in 2024, he later pointed out: “What generative AI can’t do is create something new that’s never been seen.“The models [are] trained on everything that’s ever been done before; it can’t be trained on that which has never been done. So you will innately see, essentially, all of human art and human experience put into a blender, and you’ll get something that is kind of an average of that.”While promoting his Academy Award-winning adaptation of Frankenstein, director Guillermo Del Toro claimed that he’d “rather die” than include generative AI in his own filmmaking.READ MORE:Question Time's 'Genuinely Offensive' 'AI Panel' Did Not Go Down Well With ViewersJack Osbourne Defends Plans To Recreate Late Father Ozzy's Likeness Using AICharlize Theron Says She Was Talking 'Out Of Her A**' After AI Comments Spark Backlash

The director defends investment in and use of AI-generated storyboards, saying the immediacy of communicating his vision to cast and crew is ‘creatively freeing’Martin Scorsese’s announcement that he has invested in an AI company and uses the technology to create storyboards has triggered a backlash from fellow members of the film industry.The New York Times reported that Scorsese had been appointed in 2025 as a partner and adviser to Black Forest Labs, a German-based venture that specialises in text-to-image generative AI. Continue reading...