LogInThe age-old question, "What's more annoying than ads?" finally has an answer.
Proving once again that investors usually can't read the room and will throw themselves on trendy buzzwords like hungry puppies at Hill's, Netflix's President of Advertising, Amy Reinhard, has recently revealed that the streaming platform is planning to introduce AI-generated commercials come 2026.
Speaking at Netflix's second annual Upfront 2025 event for advertisers (via Media Play News), Amy Reinhard briefly mentioned that starting next year, the platform will begin showing AI-generated ads during pauses and midrolls in the middle of shows, without offering many details on the subject but mentioning that Netflix users "pay as much attention to mid-roll ads as they do to the shows and movies themselves."
She added that Netflix has the advantage marketers should be looking for when it comes to technology and content. "Either [companies] have great technology, or they have great entertainment. Our superpower has always been the fact that we have both," Reinhard said.
Although it's evident that Netflix is simply trying to excite the moneybags who keep the platform going by name-dropping the "next big thing" in its speeches, regular users haven't found the reveal all that exciting. Over on social media, the majority of users reacted negatively to the news, with many threatening to cancel their subscriptions if AI-made ads appear in midrolls.
A situation similar to the one Netflix has found itself at the epicenter of is the recent controversy surrounding Industrial Light & Magic's chief creative promoting an AI-generated "Star Wars film" – featuring machine-made animals that look more like "Italian brainrot" memes than the output of the most esteemed VFX company on the market – in his TED talk, which got ratioed on YouTube.
And before that, we also had the case of ARK: Aquatica, an upcoming DLC for ARK: Survival Evolved, whose trailer was disliked to oblivion for being made entirely with generative AI and has since been taken down.
With examples like that, it's clear that the general attitude of the majority towards generative AI remains negative. Maybe – painful as it is to say – AI bros are right, and more people are starting to accept artificial junk, but thankfully, the days of total acceptance aren't here yet, and hopefully they never will be.
Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.