Martin Scorsese emerges as an unexpected Hollywood advocate for AI

Acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese has become an adviser and partner to AI image-generation company Black Forest Labs, according to a report published by The New York Times on Tuesday.

The partnership comes with an important limitation: Scorsese says he is using the company’s technology exclusively for storyboarding purposes rather than for generating finished film content.

In a statement provided to the publication, Scorsese explained that he has personally created storyboards throughout his filmmaking career and sees the technology as a way to improve that process.

“For 70 years, I’ve been creating my own storyboards,” Scorsese said. According to the director, the AI-powered tool enables him to communicate visual ideas and creative concepts to cinematographers, production designers, and other members of a production team more quickly and efficiently.

Black Forest Labs is a relatively small company with approximately 70 employees and is headquartered in Freiburg, located near Germany’s famous Black Forest region. Despite operating outside traditional technology hubs, the startup has established itself as a significant player in the AI imaging sector.

The company’s technology currently powers image-generation capabilities within products offered by major technology firms, including Adobe, Canva, Microsoft, and Meta. Investors have reportedly valued Black Forest Labs at approximately $3.25 billion.

Among those investors is BroadLight Capital, a venture firm co-founded by Scorsese’s longtime talent manager, Rick Yorn.

Black Forest Labs was established by members of the team behind Stable Diffusion, one of the most influential open-source image-generation technologies. According to reports from Wired, the company recently chose not to pursue a partnership with xAI after an earlier collaboration involving the Grok image generator ended amid concerns related to content moderation and platform safeguards.

Scorsese’s involvement with an AI company may draw mixed reactions within the entertainment industry, where debates surrounding artificial intelligence remain ongoing. Concerns about the impact of AI on creative professions, intellectual property, and artistic work have fueled significant discussion throughout Hollywood in recent years.

Even so, the director’s decision to work with Black Forest Labs, albeit in a narrowly defined creative capacity, represents another indication that parts of the entertainment industry are becoming more open to selective uses of artificial intelligence.

While Scorsese’s role focuses specifically on pre-production visualisation and storyboarding, the partnership highlights how AI tools are increasingly being applied within established creative workflows. It also reflects a broader shift as filmmakers, studios, and technology companies continue to explore ways to integrate AI across various stages of content creation while balancing concerns about its broader impact on the industry.