Netflix has used AI on nearly 300 productions to speed up and slash costs

Netflix just said the quiet part out loud: it has been leaning on AI across close to 300 productions to move faster, spend less, and still hit the look it wants. That lands in a town that has been jumpy about AI for years, especially after the writers and actors strikes put a spotlight on fears that studios would swap people for cheaper tech.What Netflix says it is actually using AI forIn an earnings-adjacent chat with Deadline, Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company is tapping generative tools for complex visuals — the stuff that usually eats time and money. "We are leveraging Gen AI for really complicated shots and sequences... enhancing crowds, or historical battle scenes, those kind of things." According to Sarandos, those tools have touched about 300 titles so far this year. The biggest wins are shots productions might have cut entirely because they were too expensive before. His pitch is that this is not a swap for human creatives so much as a way to get more of what teams want on screen without blowing the budget.The test case they are pointing toSarandos highlighted a documentary series called The American Experiment, which used 17 minutes of AI-enhanced footage. He said that work came together notably faster and cheaper than traditional methods. "It is produced twice as fast and at half the cost of previous options." Why push AI now? Follow the moneyNetflix is framing the savings as fuel for more programming, which tracks with its plan to lift content spending by about 10% in 2026. That is a notable stance for a service already known for pouring cash into originals.The market reaction was not exactly a victory lapAfter the latest earnings update, Netflix shares slid to a new 52-week low. Q2 revenue landed at $12.56 billion, with $3.401 billion in net income. Guidance for the summer came in softer than Wall Street hoped, pointing to slower revenue growth than in recent quarters. The company is also still moving past a lost Warner Bros. deal, though a breakup fee helped cushion the impact. Internally, the message is that AI-driven efficiencies can be reinvested; externally, investors and the broader industry are in a more cautious mood. None of this screams crisis, but it does mean people are watching every move more closely.

Netflix has used AI on nearly 300 productions to speed up and slash costs

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