The streaming giant Netflix has disbursed $587 million in cash to purchase InterPositive, an artificial intelligence (AI) venture launched in 2022 by filmmaker Ben Affleck.
According to a report by Variety, a Form 10-Q filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) detailed the payment for a March acquisition.
While the official document did not identify the company by name, the buyout of InterPositive was announced on 5 March. Earlier projections from Bloomberg had indicated the deal value might reach as high as $600 million, reports Mashable.
Netflix characterized the move as a strategic investment in “creator-led innovation” designed to keep filmmakers at the centre of the production workflow.
Affleck established the organisation after monitoring the early integration of AI in film production during 2022. He observed that contemporary models often “came up short” regarding the specific needs of cinema.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker maintained that for such tools to be useful to artists, they must be “purpose-built” to uphold the fundamental components of high-quality storytelling.
In a video accompanying the news, Affleck clarified that the technology developed by InterPositive does not involve “text prompting” or the autonomous generation of content but is instead focused on enhancing the filmmaking process.
