- Netflix announced it bought AI firm InterPositive for $587 million
- It acquired the company back in March
- Though the partnership claims to support human creativity, it’s still ringing alarm bells for subscribers
Netflix is taking another huge step into its investment in AI — now the streaming platform has completed its $587 million acquisition of startup company InterPositive, the Ben Affleck-owned enterprise that offers AI-powered filmmaking services.
The streaming giant first announced its acquisition of InterPositive back in March, when Bloomberg predicted that Netflix could pay up to $600 million. The company’s recent Form 10-Q report confirms this, and it also reveals that Netflix paid the sum in cash.
Affleck launched InterPositive back in 2022, providing filmmakers with tools to create their own AI model using production dailies to fine-tune post-production work including visual effects, mixing, and relighting shots.
Despite its AI-focus, Affleck has been vocal about his aims to protect human artistry, saying he wanted to “preserve what makes human storytelling human, which is judgement” and to “protect the power of human creativity” at the time of the company’s inception. That said, the acquisition is certainly a bold move from Netflix given how much criticism its investments in AI has garnered.
Prior to its 10-Q report, Netflix released a shareholder newsletter which admitted to using AI ‘on ‘300 movies and shows’ in 2026, such as the docuseries The American Experiment. Co-CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, went into further detail on this, stating that these AI tools helped produce accompanying visual elements “twice as fast and at half the cost of previous options,” according to Variety.
As you can imagine, this hasn’t settled well with loyal Netflix subscribers who are tired of the platform canceling shows and instead prioritizing AI tools. Since the acquisition sum was revealed, Reddit has been flooded with concerns over what this could mean for future Netflix productions and the creative teams behind them.
One user on Reddit noted that despite the rapid improvements of AI tools, post-production and visual effects departments remain major employers in the entertainment industry. The same user states that business transactions like this are “literally just a mass layoff”, adding, “We do not want this. Humans are artists”.
Netflix’s half-a-billion-dollar acquisition of InterPositive is the icing on the cake of what could spell a decaying trust from its subscribers, and it makes me even more concerned about the artistic value and production ethics of the company’s future movies and shows.
Right now, Netflix is not in my good books, and I’ve been quite vocal about its rash decisions to chase AI and social media-like content. The company recently announced plans to expand its range of content, bringing videos from popular online outlets to the platform — when we already have YouTube for that.
Additionally, Netflix’s prioritization of tacky reality shows over quality drama titles is another topic that’s being discussed, mainly surrounding its upcoming Wonka-themed show. This project also has a huge AI element, as the company has used technology to recreate the voice of Gene Wilder from the original 1971 movie, another distasteful move in my eyes.
It appears that Netflix isn’t doing a good job of keeping subscribers hooked with its growing involvement in AI and ignorance of the survival of its original titles. Is the best streaming service digging its own grave?
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