Ben Affleck's AI Startup InterPositive Sold to Netflix for $587 Million

Netflix paid $587 million in cash to acquire Ben Affleck's AI startup InterPositive, the company disclosed in a federal filing on Friday. The streamer confirmed the purchase price in its quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, providing a concrete figure for a deal first announced in March 2026.

As part of the acquisition, Affleck joined Netflix as a senior adviser and the 16-person InterPositive team was integrated into the company. The startup, which Affleck founded in 2022, developed AI tools designed for filmmakers to use during production and post-production, such as relighting shots and adding visual effects.

What does InterPositive's AI do?

The technology is specifically trained on a production's own dailies, aiming to preserve a director's creative intent. According to Netflix, this approach allows for controllable and consistent results, differing from text-to-video prompt models. The tools can address challenges like replacing missing shots, reframing existing footage, and correcting lighting.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos highlighted the technology's impact during the company's recent earnings call. He said generative AI workflows have been used in roughly 300 Netflix titles in 2026, with the largest concentration in post-production.

How is Netflix using this technology?

Sarandos pointed to the docuseries The American Experiment as an example, where 17 minutes of AI-enhanced footage were produced "twice as fast and at half the cost of previous options." He argued the tools save sequences that might otherwise be cut for budget or time reasons.

"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 told analysts, according to TheWrap. "So those sequences are saved by the availability and access to these GenAI tools."

Despite the significant investment, Sarandos emphasized that AI is seen as a tool for artists, not a replacement. "We believe it takes great artists to make something great, and AI is not changing that," he said. "AI will give creatives better tools to bring their visions to life."

Affleck expressed a similar philosophy when the deal was announced. "From the invention of the moving image to the transition to digital, from motion capture to virtual production, technology has evolved alongside the artists who use it," he said.

Sources

• Securities and Exchange Commission
• Netflix Investor Relations