On March 5, 2026, Netflix officially announced the purchase of the AI startup InterPositive, founded by Hollywood star Ben Affleck. As part of the deal, all 16 of the company's employees—engineers and researchers—will transition to Netflix. Affleck himself will take on the role of senior advisor at the streaming service, underscoring the strategic importance of this acquisition for the media giant.

The context of this deal extends beyond a typical tech startup acquisition. Affleck founded InterPositive in 2022, inspired by the early adoption of AI in film production and dissatisfied with existing tools. According to him, he felt a responsibility to the industry to protect human creativity. For Netflix, which recently lost the battle for Warner Bros. content, this purchase represents a crucial step in strengthening its own production technologies and creating a unique competitive advantage.

InterPositive's technology is fundamentally different from generative AI models that create images from text descriptions. Its core consists of specialized models trained on the 'raw' materials of a specific project (so-called dailies). These models analyze the original video data and create assets for post-production: they assist with color correction, visual effects creation, background manipulation, frame composition changes, and the removal of unwanted elements, such as stunt safety wires. The key feature is the necessity of human creative input to initiate the process, as the models only work with filmed footage.

In his statement, Ben Affleck emphasized that InterPositive's goal is not to replace people but to free them from routine technical work. He stated that the technology allows actors and directors to focus on performance and creative vision without being distracted by complex logistical and technical tasks. Netflix, for its part, noted the company's reputation in the field of responsible technology scaling, which was one of the reasons for the deal for Affleck.

For the film industry, this deal marks a new stage in the integration of AI into mainstream production. InterPositive's technology is positioned as a tool that increases efficiency and reduces costs but does not replace key creative professions. For viewers, this likely means faster content releases and potentially more complex visual effects even in projects with modest budgets. However, it also raises questions about how seamlessly AI will be woven into the final product.

Netflix has not yet disclosed specific timelines or projects in which InterPositive's technology will be used. It is clear that the streamer will gradually implement it into its own production, betting that the audience will not notice or care about the use of AI. The reaction of writers', actors', and directors' guilds, who are closely monitoring AI's impact on jobs, remains an open question. The success or failure of this integration could set a trend for the entire media industry for years to come.