Netflix says it's using Genai now

Netflix has saved money with its recent production using generator AI. And the company's Co-CEO said he was “excited” by the outcome.

Ted Sarandos revealed on Thursday that the streamers used technology when creating “The Eternaut,” an Argentine production based on popular sci-fi comics.

Sarandos said the show was the first Netflix title to use shots entirely AI-generated in the final footage, with a sequence showing the collapse of a building in Buenos Aires. Without AI, he said that such effects would not have been cost-effective for production on the scale of “Eternaut.”

“In fact, the VFX sequence was completed 10 times faster than it was completed with visual, traditional VFX tools and workflows,” Sarandos told analysts on Netflix's quarterly revenue calls.

Sarandos said everyone was “excited” about the final product.

“The creators were excited about the outcome, we were excited about the outcome,” he said. “More importantly, the audience was excited by the outcome, so I think these tools are helping creators expand their storytelling potential on-screen.

Netflix is no stranger to AI. Sarandos has previously spoken about how much money he saved using AI in Rodrigo Prieto's film Pedro Paramo and how much money he saved using AI, in contrast to the costs of Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.

“In fact, the entire film budget was about VFX costs for 'Irishman',” Sarandos said in a first-quarter revenue call for Netflix in April.

AI remains a troubling issue in society, especially in Hollywood. Requests for the use of AI have been at the heart of the historic double actor and writer strike that will shut down production in 2023.

Fans expressed dissatisfaction at Disney in 2023 with Marvel Studios' choice to use AI for credit art for the Disney+ series “Secret Invasion.” Tyler Perry says he has suspended his studio expansion plans due to already available AI features.

Visual effects are one area of Hollywood that can be dramatically altered by AI. This is because audiences demand a superhero character that will burden the explosive climax and production budget.

As Netflix news shows, it's not just the summer blockbusters that have changed.