Hollywood has found a new favourite villain, and he carries a laptop instead of a gun. Films like The Social Reckoning and Artificial push the portrait of tech founders into darker territory than we have seen before. The turn is striking because the genre once treated Silicon Valley types as flawed but charming dreamers. Since then, a string of data scandals and the explosive rise of AI have worn down public patience. Writers have responded by stripping away the charm and leaning hard into arrogance and unaccountable power. The tech executive on screen now reads less like a quirky genius and more like a man drunk on influence. Judging by the projects in the pipeline, this brand of cold-eyed founder will stay on cinema posters for a while yet.