Cannes Film Festival's "major outburst of profanity," boos erupt at graduation ceremony—"Boycott AI" has become a trend

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A wave of public backlash against artificial intelligence is rapidly spreading—from Hollywood's red carpets to American university graduation ceremonies, AI has become the most controversial cultural symbol of this era.

On the eve of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, after a screening of the 20th anniversary 4K restoration of "Pan's Labyrinth" in the Debussy Theatre, acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro walked on stage and bluntly said into the microphone, "Fuck AI," prompting laughter and applause from the audience. Cannes Film Festival Artistic Director Thierry Frémaux immediately elevated this statement as "the first political declaration of this year's Cannes."

Almost at the same time, at graduation ceremonies at multiple colleges across the United States, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, real estate executive Gloria Caulfield, and record company executive Scott Borchetta all mentioned AI—only to be met with rounds of boos from the graduating students in the audience.

Behind this shared emotional resonance lies the deep concern of a generation about career prospects and technological runaway. A 2025 poll from Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics shows that most graduating college students see AI as a threat to their career development. The New York Times released a new poll this month showing that 47% of voters under 30 believe AI is "overall harmful," the highest proportion across age groups.

Graduation Ceremonies Turn Into "Protest Sites"

At the University of Arizona’s graduation ceremony, Eric Schmidt tried to compare the rise of AI to the "technological revolution" of the computer age, but was immediately booed before he could finish his sentence. He then called out to the audience: "I know how many of you feel about this—I can hear you." He admitted that this generation of graduates has a certain fear—"Machines are coming, jobs are disappearing, the climate is collapsing, politics are broken, and you’ve inherited a mess you didn’t create." Schmidt went on to urge graduates to shape the development of AI with their own strength, but this comment was also met with boos.

The situation at the University of Central Florida was similar. When real estate executive Gloria Caulfield mentioned in her graduation speech that "the rise of AI is the next industrial revolution," she was immediately booed, with some even shouting "AI sucks." Caulfield stopped, turned and spread her hands to ask, "What’s going on?" before managing to finish her speech.

New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg pointed out in a commentary that the root cause of this phenomenon is that the United States lacks both the political infrastructure to distribute AI benefits to the public and the institutional mechanisms—like those in Nordic countries—that allow workers to participate in AI deployment decisions. "Companies use AI as a justification for massive layoffs," she wrote. "According to Secure AI Alliance data, there have been nearly 120,000 AI-related layoffs in the US since last year alone."

Cannes’ Two Faces: Denouncing AI Onstage, Taking AI Money Offstage

However, Cannes’ "political declaration" did not last long. Right after del Toro’s remarks, as people exited the venue, they could see that one of the official sponsors of this year’s Cannes Film Festival was Meta—one of the world’s largest AI technology giants, with a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement. Its logo appeared on the official backdrop alongside longstanding sponsors such as Chopard and BMW. Kuaishou's subsidiary Kollection AI also appeared as a partner, with a booth at the Cannes film market.

For the main competition section, Frémaux made it clear that any AI-generated content would be banned and said Cannes "will always stand with screenwriters, actors, and all professionals whose jobs could be taken away by AI." However, this stance forms a stark contrast with the presence of AI company sponsors when faced with business realities.

Not all filmmakers stand with del Toro. "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson stated bluntly at a Cannes masterclass that the industry's AI panic is "very blind," arguing that AI is nothing more than an ordinary special effects tool. Veteran actress Demi Moore, meanwhile, commented at the jury press conference that there’s no point in resisting AI—"It’s better to hurry up and learn how to live with it."

Despite the Anxiety, AI Still Has "Cost Advantages"

No matter how loud the public opposition grows, commercial logic always runs on a parallel track. Kollection AI held a special event on the main stage of the Cannes Film Market, themed "From Creative Ideas to Production Reality," focusing on showcasing AI-generated animation and feature film projects, sending a global signal that "AI is ready to do real production work in film crews."

Cost figures are the most convincing proof. A 22-year-old director participating in WAIFF revealed that an AI-generated visual sequence depicting Alzheimer’s disease in his film only cost 500 euros, whereas using traditional effects would have cost at least 20,000 euros. This fortyfold difference in costs means that commercial logic will ultimately have a real impact on creative decisions.

From a longer historical perspective, the tension between the film industry and technological revolutions is nothing new. When sound films appeared, silent film artists thought cinema was dead; when Industrial Light & Magic and digital effects rose, traditional effects workers also lamented the end of the industry; when streaming surged, Cannes once refused to allow Netflix into the main competition. But not only did film not die, it has survived to this day in richer forms. The tension between technology and art may just be another cyclical growing pain for the industry.

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