Netflix paid $587M for Ben Affleck's AI filmmaking startup

In a new regulatory filing, Netflix revealed that it paid $587 million in cash for InterPositive, a startup co-founded by actor and director Ben Affleck. The streaming company announced the acquisition in March, when Affleck said in a statement that he wanted to “protect the power of human creativity.” InterPositive’s AI tools help filmmakers improve their footage in post-production, addressing real-world production challenges such as missing shots, background replacements, or incorrect lighting, according to Affleck.

At the time of the announcement, Netflix said the entire InterPositive team would join the company, with Affleck coming aboard as a senior advisor, but it did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. A subsequent report from Bloomberg suggested the deal could be worth up to $600 million.

In its most recent earnings report, Netflix said that around 300 of its titles have already used generative AI.

Why it matters

The disclosed price gives the industry its clearest data point yet on what a major studio will pay for AI-powered post-production tools, at a moment when Netflix says generative AI already touches around 300 of its titles.