Netflix has acquired InterPositive, the technology company founded by Ben Affleck that develops AI-powered tools for filmmakers.
The streamer said InterPositive’s mission “to use emerging technology in ways that protect and expand creative choice” is aligned with Netflix’s “long-standing belief that innovation should serve storytellers and the creative process.”
The acquisition comes as studios and streamers begin the latest round of contract talks with Hollywood actors, writers and directors unions, talks in which the use of AI in film and TV will be a key issue.
Terms of the deal, which also comes days after Netflix dropped out of the bidding for Warner Bros with a $2.8bn breakup fee payout, were not disclosed.
The InterPositive workforce, which reportedly consists of less than 20 people, will be brought into Netflix and Affleck will join as a senior advisor.
InterPositive was founded by Affleck in 2022. A statement announcing the acquisition said tools developed by the company “help creative teams refine, adjust, and enhance their material (for example, addressing technical cleanup, continuity, lighting adjustments, or environment enhancements) while preserving artistic intent and creative control.”
Commenting on the deal, Affleck said: “In 2022, I spent a lot of time observing the early rise of AI in production. As a filmmaker, I could see how these models came up short. For artists to apply these tools towards telling the stories we dedicate our lives to, they need to be purpose-built to represent and protect all the qualities that make a great story: the nuances of filmmaking, the predictable — and unpredictable — challenges of production environments, the distortion of a lens or the way light shape-shifts across a scene. We also need to preserve what makes storytelling human, which is judgment. The kind that takes decades to build, experience to hone and that only people can have. I knew I had a responsibility to my peers and our industry, to protect the power of human creativity and the people behind it. In creating InterPositive, I sought to do just that.”
Netflix chief product and technology officer Elizabeth Stone commented: “Our approach to AI has always been focused on meaningfully serving the needs of the creative community and our members. The InterPositive team is joining Netflix because of our shared belief that innovation should empower storytellers, not replace them.”
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