The company revealed in its second-quarter earnings report Thursday that so far this year, nearly 300 Netflix shows across the streamer’s library have used generative AI throughout the production process.
Netflix said in a letter to shareholders that the use of this technology is expanding to every level of the programming process, from concept and previsualization to post-production and release. The company has credited its use of the technology with shows such as the Indian sports thriller series “Glory,” the Brazilian soccer miniseries “Brazil 70: A Saga de Try,” and the documentary series focused on the American Revolution, “The American Experiment.” Netflix said these technologies helped create “highly complex sequences,” including enhancing crowd sizes and fight sequences.
“We are increasingly leveraging these tools to deliver higher quality output faster and at lower cost than traditional methods,” the company said. “In some cases, without GenAI technology, we would have had to omit important shots or sequences in production.”
The disclosure comes as Netflix’s second-quarter revenue rose 13.4% year-over-year to $12.56 billion, with net income of $3.4 billion, which translates to 80 cents per share. Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected earnings of $12.59 billion, or 79 cents a share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
The streaming giant has been vocal about deploying AI in various areas of its business, including helping users discover new titles, boosting its advertising business, and building an AI animation studio. Netflix also acquired InterPositive, a company founded by Ben Affleck, in March, which the company said will help provide filmmakers with AI tools that can be used throughout film and TV production.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on Thursday’s earnings call that the deal with InterPositive is still in the “early stages,” but the company is aware of the impact on production as with other internal tools.
Sarandos added that AI tools give creators “better tools to bring their visions to life,” pointing to 17 minutes of AI-enhanced footage for “American Experiment,” which he claimed “extended the scope of the series that was previously unattainable” and was produced “twice as fast and at half the cost of previous options.”
Still, Sarandos said Netflix doesn’t intend to use AI to replace creative professionals.
“We believe it takes great artists to create great things, and AI won’t change that,” he said. “Movies are made by the people who make them, and AI gives them better tools to make them even better.”
This statement echoes comments Sarandos made to Politico in March, where he said AI, like other production tools that have evolved over time, “should be a creator tool” and can give creators the opportunity to do things that weren’t possible before the technology emerged.
But AI can only make things “faster and cheaper” if high quality standards continue, he said. “If it’s not faster and cheaper, I don’t think it matters,” he told the outlet.
“AI, especially InterPositive, the company we acquired from Ben, [Affleck]”Helps creators make things better,” he added. “You can use your own dailies, you can use your own production materials, and you can make the movie that you’re making better. You still need screenwriters, actors, lighting technicians, and everything else that goes into making a movie, but you can make it more effective and efficient.”
