Netflix says around 300 titles used generative AI

Netflix says roughly 300 titles on its platform used generative AI, most of which occurred in post-production. The streaming service revealed the news in its second-quarter earnings report released on Thursday, saying it’s “increasingly leveraging these tools to deliver higher quality output more quickly and at a lower cost.”

It also provided some examples of titles that used AI, including The American Experiment, Glory, and Brasil 70: A Saga do Tri. These shows used the technology to “create highly complex sequences,” including “enhanced crowds, historical battle sequences, and worldbuilding establishing shots.” During Netflix’s call with investors, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said The American Experiment docuseries includes 17 minutes of “AI-enhanced footage,” which “were produced twice as fast and at half the cost of previous options.”

“In many of the cases, productions would have left out those key shots because they just wouldn’t have been able to afford them,” Sarandos added. “They wouldn’t have been able to do them in the timeframes that they’re working on.” Sarandos similarly said last year that AI was used to create a scene in the sci-fi series The Eternaut to save time and cut costs.

Netflix reported earning $12.56 billion over the past few months, and says it’s still on track to double its ad revenue to $3 billion. In its letter to shareholders, Netflix also addressed some concerns about engagement, which came up after a report from Bloomberg revealed that the streaming giant is struggling to keep viewers around for the second season of its shows.

The service says “time spent is just one aspect of strong engagement,” adding that “quality and variety also matter.” It also highlights that its latest What We Watched report shows that subscribers watched over 97 billion hours, up 2 percent year over year. The company also announced that it will now switch to publishing this report just once per year, instead of twice.

Update, July 16th: Added information from Netflix’s earnings call.