Netflix has officially confirmed that it paid the Hollywood star, Ben Affleck roughly $587 million in cash, to acquire its AI company, InterPositive, ending months of speculation about the multibillion-dollar deal.
Ben Affleck lands $587 million settlement
The streaming giant revealed the purchase price in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, confirming Bloomberg previously reported that the actor got an impressive $600 million. According to the company’s Form 10-Q, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, “In March 2026, the company completed an acquisition that was accounted for as a business combination for a total purchase price of approximately $587 million, which consisted of cash consideration.“
Ben Affleck on the role of AI
Affleck founded InterPositive in 2022 and served as its CEO. As part of the acquisition, the OTT giant also absorbed the company’s team, while the Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker remains with the streamer in an advisory capacity.Affleck has previously spoken about the role AI could play in filmmaking, stressing that it would only enhance creative work rather than replace it. “AI will disintermediate the most laborious, least creative, most expensive aspects of filmmaking. That will lower costs. That will lower the barrier to entry. That will allow more voices to be heard. That will make it easier for people who want to do Good Will Hunting to go out and do it,” Affleck said in a video about the technology.He also explained: “The AI is a craftsman at best: Craftsmen can learn how to make Stickley furniture by sitting next to someone and seeing what their technique is and imitating it… Craftsman. is knowing how to work. The trick 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 already uses AI in productions
As THR reported, co-CEO Ted Sarandos was asked how the company plans to leverage InterPositive and whether the acquisition would translate into long-term cost savings. He shared, “It’s early days for InterPositive, but we’re already seeing gen-AI start to have an impact on hundreds of our productions.”He added: “We’re doing higher-quality production faster and more efficiently than we would have done using traditional methods. Generation AI workflows have now been used in approximately 300 of our titles, with the largest concentration so far in post-production. We’re leveraging generation 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 proving to be particularly effective.