Netflix acquires Ben Affleck's AI film-tech firm

March 5 (Reuters) - Netflix said ‌on Thursday ​it ​has acquired InterPositive, a filmmaking technology company founded by Academy Award winner Ben Affleck that produces artificial ‌intelligence-powered tools for movie production.

Financial terms of the deal ⁠were not disclosed.

The media industry is warming up to the idea ‌of using AI for ‌content and storytelling, a major pivot from Hollywood's earlier concerns about the new technology challenging creative jobs and ​intellectual property rights.

Late last year, Disney announced plans to allow OpenAI to use characters from its Star Wars, ⁠Pixar and Marvel franchises in the startup's Sora AI video generator.

"We believe new ​tools should expand creative freedom, not constrain it or replace the work of writers, directors, actors, ​and crews," Netflix Chief Content ‌Officer Bela Bajaria said.

The acquisition is the streaming giant's first since backing out of a ⁠high-stakes race to acquire Warner Bros Discovery's studio and streaming assets after Paramount Skydance's rival bid was deemed as superior.

Affleck, director ⁠and star of Oscar-winning film "Argo", founded InterPositive in 2022 by creating ​an AI model trained to understand visual logic and editorial consistency, while maintaining cinematic rules under real-world production challenges such as missing ‌shots or incorrect lighting.

"We also built in restraints to protect creative intent, so the tools ‌are designed for responsible exploration while keeping creative decisions ⁠in the hands of ‌artists," Affleck said.

Affleck will ​be joining Netflix as a senior advisor.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika ‌Syamnath)

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