Netflix may have paid $600 million for Ben Affleck’s artificial intelligence startup

Last week, Netflix announced the acquisition of InterPositive, an AI company co-founded by Ben Affleck to help filmmakers edit footage in post-production.

The deal could be worth up to $600 million, according to Bloomberg, which would rank it among the largest acquisitions the streaming company has ever made. The largest amount Netflix has ever paid for a single acquisition was approximately $700 million for the Roald Dahl Story Company.

Although Netflix has not publicly confirmed the details, sources told Bloomberg that the actual cash payout may be lower, with InterPositive owners eligible for additional payouts tied to specific performance goals.

InterPositive creates tools that help filmmakers work more efficiently in post-production — for example, addressing continuity issues or enhancing scenes — but it does not create new content or use footage without permission.

This acquisition fits into Netflix’s broader efforts to integrate AI into content production. The company has already used generative AI in its original shows and films, including creating a building collapse scene in the Argentinian series “The Eternaut.”

Competitors are moving in the same direction. Amazon is building in-house AI teams for film and TV projects, while Disney has a deal with OpenAI.

Not everyone is on board. Film industry workers have raised concerns about potential job losses and whether AI companies compensate creators fairly for training data.