Netflix has made its most definitive move yet into AI-generated content, publicly confirming for the first time that it used generative artificial intelligence to create final VFX footage in one of its original productions. The revelation, disclosed during the company’s quarterly earnings call, marks a significant escalation in the streaming giant’s embrace of AI technology – and signals a potential watershed moment for the industry. The AI-generated sequence appears in El Eternauta (The Eternaut), an Argentinian science fiction series following survivors of a toxic snowfall. Netflix’s internal production team worked with VFX artists to use AI tools for creating a building collapse scene in Buenos Aires – a complex sequence that would traditionally require extensive traditional effects work. VFX sequence completed 10 times faster with AI Co-CEO Ted Sarandos didn’t mince words about the efficiency gains: the AI-powered approach completed the VFX sequence “10 times faster than it could have been completed with traditional VFX tools and workflows.” More significantly for budget-conscious productions, he emphasized that “the cost of it just wouldn’t have been feasible for a show in that budget.” This represents exactly the kind of democratization of high-end VFX that we’ve been tracking in our previous AI coverage—the technology finally reaching a point where it can deliver broadcast-quality results for mid-tier productions that would otherwise be priced out of sophisticated effects work. Beyond cost-cutting: Netflix’s broader AI vision Sarandos was careful to position this not merely as a cost-saving measure but as a creative enhancement. “We remain convinced that AI...
Published By: CineD - Yesterday