Netflix announced a new acquisition Thursday—not Warner Bros., which it backed out of bidding for last week, but a company founded by actor-director Ben Affleck that develops AI-powered tools for filmmakers, with Affleck joining Netflix as a senior adviser.
Key Takeaways
- Netflix said it acquired InterPositive, a technology company Affleck said he founded to develop AI tools for filmmaking that “protect the power of human creativity and the people behind it.”
- InterPositive’s AI model can be fed shots from a film’s production, which trains it to understand the visual style and tone of the project, so it can then be used to adjust lighting, coloring, visual effects, as well as fix missing shots or other background elements.
- Affleck said in an announcement video Netflix shared that InterPositive’s technology is “not about text prompting or generating something from nothing,” saying the technology builds a “model from your own material.”
- Netflix did not disclose how much it acquired InterPositive for.
Tangent
Netflix’s acquisition of InterPositive comes one week after it declined to raise its offer to purchase Warner Bros., clearing the way for Paramount to win the bidding war. The move was a twist in a months-long saga that began with Netflix announcing in December it had entered an agreement with Warner Bros. to acquire the storied film company, only to be challenged—and ultimately beaten—by Paramount, which launched a hostile bid.
Paramount raised its bid to $31 per Warner Bros. Discovery share in late February, which Warner Bros. deemed superior to Netflix’s offer. Unlike the prior Netflix acquisition agreement, which would have given the streaming service control of the Warner Bros. film studio, HBO and HBO Max, Paramount bid for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, including CNN, TBS and its other cable assets. Warner Bros. and Paramount late last week signed an agreement to merge, though the deal is still subject to regulatory approval and a shareholder vote.
Key Background
Affleck spoke about AI in an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast in January, saying he believes AI is “going to be a tool, just like visual effects,” but will not be able to meaningfully replace the filmmaking process. “I don’t think it’s very likely that it’s gonna be able to write anything meaningful, or that it’s going to be making movies from whole cloth, like Tilly Norwood. That’s bulls—,” Affleck said. He referenced Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated “actress” created by the AI company Xicoia that sparked an uproar in Hollywood, including criticism by the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union.
How Is Hollywood Embracing Ai?
Netflix’s purchase of InterPositive follows other studios embracing AI tools in filmmaking, including Paramount, whose CEO David Ellison said earlier this week AI will be “transformative” in a future merged Paramount-Warner Bros. company. Ellison also said on an earnings call last month he believes AI is an “an unbelievable tool for artists that will be a significant unlock on creativity,” saying he wants to increase AI technology roles tenfold. In the highest-profile deal between a Hollywood studio and an AI company so far, Disney struck a $1 billion agreement with OpenAI in December, licensing characters from its film franchises for use in OpenAI’s Sora video creation tool.
This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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