The American Experiment is a five-episode documentary that features Apocalypse Now actor Martin Sheen as the voice of George Washington along with a panoply of contemporary figures from U.S. politics including ex-vice presidents Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. It also included 17 minutes of AI-enhanced footage that was produced “twice as fast and at half the cost,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Faster and less expensive could potentially become central to the way Netflix plans to spend what could be up to $20 billion this year on content creation, a line item number that has grown from $16.2 billion in 2024 to $17.1 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, investors appear to be losing patience with the streaming giant as some of the tide appears to be moving in the opposite direction, with revenue growth decelerating from 16% in the first quarter of 2026, to 13% this quarter, and 12% guided for Q3. After earnings results were released, the stock price fell as much as 9% after hours, despite posting results that were generally in line with expectations.
Sarandos said generative AI could help creative teams—particularly during the post-production process—get more juice out of every squeeze. So far this year, Netflix said, its creative partners have used GenAI workflows in 300 of its titles, with the bulk of it in post-production. In some cases, productions would have had to scale back key shots and sequences in the absence of AI because they couldn’t have afforded them or crews wouldn’t have been able to pull them off on the timeline they had, he said. Post teams used AI to enhance crowd scenes, world building opening shots, and historical battle scenes, Netflix leaders told shareholders in an investor letter on Thursday.
“By equipping creatives with these tools, we believe they are going to enhance their abilities and we are going to have better and more impact for every dollar we spend on our programming,” said Sarandos. “So, content creation timelines can be shortened and quality can be enhanced.”
From there, the cost savings “will likely be reinvested into more content on the service which fuels high quality engagement, and that whole revenue-profit flywheel that’s going to come from that,” he added.
Sarandos was careful to note that “AI will give creatives better tools to bring their visions to life,” and said “movies are being made by people who make movies.” However, Netflix has crossed swords with some of the creatives in its own Los Gatos, Calif.-based backyard. The use of AI and protections for film and TV workers played a feature role in the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes against the studios, including Netflix. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who adapted Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for Netflix, said he’d “rather die” than use generative AI in October last year while promoting the film.
Still, Netflix has forged ahead into bringing more AI into its creative quiver, acquiring actor Ben Affleck’s film tech company InterPositive in March 2026 reportedly for up to $600 million, and consolidating its virtual effects and production operations under the Eyeline studio banner in 2025.
Results from the InterPositive acquisition were still “early days,” Sarandos said on Thursday’s earnings call, but the cost savings from those investments may become more critical for Netflix. The company said it expects overall content spending to increase 10% this year, versus the 8% average over the past five years. The company’s push into live programming is contributing to the increase, with live content expect to account for 5% of content spend this year.
Netflix has faced heavy competition for eyeballs as a multitude of options have begun to press further into the on-demand content space.
“Netflix isn’t just competing with Disney or HBO,” said Bob Lang, founder of Explosive Options, in an emailed statement. “It’s competing with online gaming through Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. It’s competing with TikTok, Facebook videos, YouTube Shorts, and everything people do on their phones.”
“People can multitask—they can have Netflix playing in the background while scrolling on their phones—but the content has to be compelling enough to command their full attention,” Lang added. “That’s the real challenge.”
During the second quarter, the streamer posted revenue of $12.6 billion, up 13% year-over-year, and operating margin of 33.4%. Netflix narrowed its full-year revenue forecast to $51 billion to $51.4 billion and reiterated its 31.5% operating margin target, which would mean operating income growth of more than 20% for 2026.
In addition to, somewhat generally expected earnings results, Netflix also announced it would scale back its What We Watched engagement report from twice a year to annually starting in 2027.
Netflix also made its largest quarterly buyback in history, repurchasing $4.7 billion in stock this quarter, getting a boost from the $2.8 billion breakup fee it collected from Paramount Skydance after its marriage pact with Warner Bros. Discovery dissolved in February.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com