Author Salman Rushdie has dismissed artificial intelligence as having "zero" role in literature, film or storytelling, arguing the technology is fundamentally incapable of originality. Speaking to Variety before accepting Liberatum's 14th Cultural Honor in London on 8 July, he said AI can only absorb vast amounts of information and reproduce versions of it, whereas true art means "finding things people haven't done before". His remarks add a prominent literary voice to the wider creative-industry debate over AI's place in the arts.

In the same interview, Rushdie discussed screen adaptations of his work, revealing that a previously announced "Midnight's Children" television series with filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj had collapsed over money and script disagreements, with Netflix reportedly unhappy with the direction. He said there is renewed interest in a multi-episode "Midnight's Children" adaptation and a possible film of "The Ground Beneath Her Feet", though he cautioned "believe it when you see it". He also noted that "Knife", Alex Gibney's documentary based on his 2024 memoir, is due for UK and US premieres in early September, and that he is at work on a new, as-yet-undisclosed novel.