Netflix has officially confirmed its $587 million cash acquisition of InterPositive, the AI company founded by actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck, ending months of speculation surrounding the high-profile deal.
The confirmation came through the company’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which stated that the acquisition was completed in March 2026 as a business combination. The filing noted, “in March 2026, the Company completed an acquisition which was accounted for as a business combination for a total purchase price of approximately USD 587 million, consisting of cash consideration.” Earlier reports had estimated the deal at nearly $600 million.
Affleck launched InterPositive in 2022 and served as its Chief Executive Officer. Following the acquisition, Netflix has integrated the company’s team into its operations, while the Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker will continue to work with the streaming platform in an advisory role.
Affleck has consistently maintained that AI should support creative professionals rather than replace them. “AI is going to disintermediate the more laborious, less creative, and more costly aspects of filmmaking. That will allow costs to be brought down. That will lower the barrier for entry. That will allow more voices to be heard. That will make it easier for the people that want to make Good Will Hunting to go out and make it,” he said while discussing the technology.
He also added, “AI is a craftsman at best — craftsmen can learn to make Stickley furniture by sitting down next to somebody and seeing what their technique is and imitating it….Craftsman is knowing how to work. Art is knowing when to stop. And I think knowing when to stop is going to be a very difficult thing for AI to learn, because it’s (about) taste.”
Netflix also revealed that generative AI is already being used across its productions. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said, “It’s early days for InterPositive but we’re we’re broadly seeing that gen-AI is starting to have an impact across hundreds of our productions.” He further added, “We’re making higher-quality output more quickly and effectively than we would have using traditional methods. Gen AI workflows now have been used in roughly 300 of our titles, with the largest concentration to date in post-production. We’re leveraging gen AI for really complicated shots and sequences.”
According to Sarandos, large-scale crowd scenes and battle sequences are among the areas where generative AI is delivering the greatest impact.
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