Hollywood is one of the many industries being infiltrated by AI. Netflix says over 300 titles this year alone have used AI at some stage in its production.
Earlier this week, Netflix released its Q2 earnings and revealed that roughly 300 of its programs have used generative AI at some stage of production so far this year.
Netflix released 597 original titles last year, 589 in 2024, and 568 in 2023 — if those numbers end up in a similar region this year, that means more than half of Netflix’s output will have used AI in some capacity.
Netflix has revealed that roughly 300 of its programs have used generative AI in their production
According to Netflix, the technology was used by these productions from “[the concept stage] and pre-visualization to post-production and release.”
The streamer specifically listed three projects — the Indian sports thriller series Glory, Brazilian soccer miniseries Brasil 70: A Saga do Tri, and American Revolution docuseries The American Experiment — noting that AI helped create “highly complex sequences” including enhanced crowd sizes and battle sequences.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos noted on the earnings call that one documentary sequence was completed twice as fast and at half the cost using AI tools, arguing that it gives “creatives better tools to bring their visions to life.”
“We are increasingly leveraging these tools to deliver higher-quality output more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional methods,” the company said. “In some cases, productions would have had to leave out key shots and sequences in the absence of GenAI technology.”
Sarandos also claimed that the company’s use of AI does not indicate a desire to replace human artisans.
“We believe it takes great artists to make something great, and AI is not changing that,” he said. “Movies are being made by people who make movies. AI provides them with better tools to make them even better.”
Earlier this year, Netflix acquired Ben Affleck’s AI production company InterPositive, which it said would provide filmmakers with AI tools throughout production.