Indie studio A24 has defended its $75m deal with Google DeepMind, arguing that it wants “a seat at the table” when it comes to AI. Facing a vociferous response, the indie studio behind the likes of Backrooms and Civil War came forward with a statement. Speaking to Wired, company representative Sophia Shin argued that its work with Google DeepMind is a “research partnership” in which both entities will “learn, iterate, and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows.” “Our relationship with our audience is something we don’t take for granted,” Shin said. “This partnership exists because we want to dictate what tools get built for artists, and so they have a voice in shaping them rather than having tools handed to them. We’d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines.” Last week, A24 Labs boss Scott Belsky suggested that the tools his part of the company are working on with Google’s researchers are connected to storyboarding and pre-production. A Reddit page dedicated to A24 makes for grim reading. “Huge sell out, and a giant FU to artists who they’ve supported for years,” one succinct post reads. The company’s AI deal hasn’t impressed Kane Parsons – the Backrooms director who’s spoken out against the technology before. He wrote a brief yet pointed post on his Discord server, which reads: “Making it very clear those r