'We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity': Netflix used AI special effects in original series instead of paying VFX artists

"Using AI powered tools, they were able to achieve an amazing result with remarkable speed," Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in a July 17 earnings call. He was referring to the recent Argentinian Netflix original The Eternaut, which includes a scene with AI-generated visual effects showing a building in Buenos Aires collapsing.

"The cost of it just wouldn't have been feasible for a show on that budget," Sarandos said of the decision. "So that sequence actually is the very first GenAI final...