The American Experiment is a five-episode documentary Apocalypse now Actor Martin Sheen as the voice of George Washington, as well as a number of contemporary US political figures, including former 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 price,” it said Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Faster and cheaper could potentially be central to how Netflix plans to spend up to $20 billion on content creation this year, a figure that has risen from $16.2 billion in 2024 to $17.1 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, investors appear to be losing patience with the streaming giant as the current appears to be moving in the opposite direction in part, with revenue growth slowing to 16% from 16% in the first quarter of 2026, 13% this quarter and 12% forecast for the third quarter. Following the release of earnings results, the share price fell as much as 9% in after-hours trading, although results were generally in line with expectations.
Sarandos said generative AI could help creative teams – especially during the post-production process – get more out of every print. Netflix says its creative partners have used GenAI workflows so far this year in 300 of his titlesmost of it in post-production. In some cases, productions without AI would have had to reduce key shots and sequences because they couldn’t afford them or because crews wouldn’t have been able to execute them on the schedule available to them, he said. Post teams used AI to improve crowd scenes, opening world-building shots and historical battle scenes, Netflix executives told shareholders a letter to investors on Thursday.
“By equipping creatives with these tools, we believe they will improve their skills and we will have a better and greater impact with every dollar we spend on our programming,” Sarandos said. “This can shorten content creation timelines and improve quality.”
From there, the cost savings “will likely be reinvested into more content on the service, driving high-quality engagement, and the overall revenue-to-profit flywheel that flows from that,” he added.
Sarandos was careful to emphasize that “AI will give creatives better tools to bring their visions to life,” saying, “Movies are made by people making movies.” However, Netflix has crossed swords with some of the creatives in its own backyard in Los Gatos, California. The use of AI and protections for film and television workers played an important role in the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes against studios, including Netflix. Filmmaker Guillermo del Torowho adapted Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for Netflix, said He would “rather die” than use generative AI to promote the film in October last year.
Still, Netflix has made progress and integrated more AI into its creative quiver. Acquisition of actor Ben Affleck‘s film technology company InterPositive in March 2026 allegedly for up to $600 million and Consolidating its virtual effects and production operations under the Eyeline Studio banner in 2025.
The results of the InterPositive acquisition are still “early days,” Sarandos said on Thursday’s earnings call, but the cost savings from those investments could become even more important for Netflix. The company expects total content spending to increase 10% this year, compared to the past five-year average of 8%. The company’s push into live programming is contributing to this increase, with live content expected to account for 5% of content spending this year.
Netflix is facing stiff competition for attention as a variety of options have begun to push further into the on-demand content space.
“Netflix doesn’t just compete Disney or HBO,” Bob Lang, founder of Explosive Options, said in an emailed statement. “It competes with online gaming through.” MicrosoftSony and Nintendo. It competes with TikTok, Facebook videos, YouTube Shorts and everything people do on their phones.”
“People can multitask — they can have Netflix running in the background while they scroll on their phones — but the content needs to be compelling enough to hold their full attention,” Lang added. “That’s the real challenge.”
In the second quarter, the streamer posted revenue of $12.6 billion, up 13% year-over-year, and an operating margin of 33.4%. Netflix cut 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% in 2026.
In addition to the more widely expected earnings results, Netflix also announced a reduction in its profits What We Saw Engagement Report from twice a year to annually from 2027.
Netflix also made the largest quarterly buyback in history, buying back $4.7 billion worth of shares in the quarter, buoyed by a $2.8 billion breakup fee Of utmost importance Skydance after his marriage pact with Warner Bros. Discovery dissolved in February.