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In its quarterly earnings report on Thursday, Netflix revealed the extent of its growing reliance on generative AI, saying the technology has been used on roughly 300 titles in the first half of this year alone.
The streamer said most of the work was done in post-production, although GenAI workflows are now being used “from concept and pre-visualization through post and delivery.”
Netflix cited three live-action productions by name: India’s Glory, Brazil’s *Brasil 70: A Saga do Tri *(pictured above), and U.S. docuseries The American Experiment. According to the company, the tools were used to create enhanced crowds, historical battle scenes, and worldbuilding establishing shots.
During Thursday’s earnings call, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said The American Experiment contains 17 minutes of “AI-enhanced footage,” produced twice as fast and at half the cost of other available methods.
“In many of the cases, productions would have left out those key shots because they just wouldn’t have been able to afford them,” he elaborated. “They wouldn’t have been able to do them in the timeframes that they’re working on.”
The disclosure marks a significant jump from the handful of examples Netflix has discussed publicly in the past. Last year, Sarandos said an AI-assisted VFX sequence in the Argentine sci-fi series The Eternaut was completed 10 times faster than it would have been using conventional workflows.
Netflix’s expanded use of the tech presents obvious ramifications for animation. As we reported back in May, the company was staffing up its INKubator, described in job listings as a “creative-led, GenAI-native animation studio” focused on producing shorts and specials through experimental AI-driven pipelines.
After our story was published, Netflix clarified that it sees INKubator as an “artist-led animation incubator” for developing stories based on its existing properties. It also stressed that films made at Netflix Animation Studios would continue to use traditional animation techniques and practices. The 300-title figure unveiled by the company this week may inspire skepticism among some regarding that claim.
That said, Netflix did not identify any animated productions among the 300 titles (although its Japanese office did boast about using the technology on an animated short back in 2023). Nor did it explain what qualifies as a GenAI workflow or how extensively the tools were used on individual projects.
The AI disclosure came as investors reacted poorly to the company’s broader earnings report. Netflix shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading and extended those losses Friday morning following weaker-than-expected third-quarter guidance. Revenue rose 13% to $12.56 billion, narrowly missing Wall Street estimates, while the company’s decision to begin releasing its viewing report annually rather than twice a year added to concerns about transparency.
Still, the 300-title figure makes one thing clear: what started as a side experiment at Netflix is now a key part of the company’s production pipeline. The company now openly describes it as a widely used production tool for making content faster and more cheaply than with traditional methods.
Pictured at top: Brasil 70: A Saga do Tri