Video streaming giant Netflix doesn’t want to let the likes of Google and Amazon have all of the generative AI fun. Rather than relying on operating system-level AI assistants, the company has decided to develop its own interactive AI model to enable users to search for shows and ask questions about them using their natural voice.
Netflix managed to keep the development of its new AI assistant under wraps, without any leaks, but it’s plans have now been outed after it was spotted in the wild.
According to Janko Roettgers, author of the Lowpass newsletter, a limited number of U.S.-based Netflix subscribers are now seeing a new “Ask” button that appears under the synopsis of each show and movie. It invites them to press the Netflix button on their remote control and ask more questions or for other viewing recommendations.
Lowpass added that some users have also been presented with suggested queries, such as “I need a good cry” and “watch in the background,” along with the prompts to “Ask” Netflix for suitable recommendations. Roettgers said the feature appears to “work well,” although it suffers from limitations when users have follow-up questions.
The launch of an AI assistant is further evidence of just how entrenched Netflix has become in the TV industry. While other streaming services, like Disney+, seem to be perfectly happy relying on Google’s Gemini and Amazon’s Alexa, it has opted to spend money developing its own, internal AI system.
For now, the feature appears to only be available to a small number of Netflix subscribers who access the platform via a Google TV device, but it seems likely that Netflix will eventually look to expand to other platforms. It will also want to boost the assistant’s capabilities. At present, its responses only come via text that’s displayed on the screen, as opposed to providing spoken answers.
"Interestingly, Netflix's voice search doesn't appear to be tapping into the service's personalization engine right now,” Roettgers said. “When you ask for recommendations based on what you've recently watched, the app's response is "We can't answer that one yet, but we're working on it!".
Netflix already has a strong influence on TV platforms because of its Netflix Recommended program, which details the specific requirements that televisions must meet in order to be certified for running its streaming app.
