Netflix paid $587 million in cash when it purchased Ben Affleck‘s AI startup InterPositive, the company disclosed in a federal filing.
As part of the company’s Form 10-Q report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Netflix confirmed that it completed an acquisition in March “for a total purchase price of approximately $587 million. The disclosure came months after a Bloomberg report indicated Netflix’s March acquisition could amount to up to $600 million for Affleck and InterPositive’s investors, even if the total price for the company was less than that amount.
The remainder would be made up through “certain performance targets,” according to the Bloomberg report. Netflix did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Netflix purchased Affleck’s startup, which he founded in 2022 and operated in stealth mode, in a bid to develop AI tools that kept “filmmakers at the center of the process.” The purchase brought aboard InterPositive’s 16-person team of engineers, researchers and creatives, while Affleck joined Netflix as a senior adviser. The company’s tools allow filmmakers to build an AI model using production dailies to help enhance post-production work such as mixing, relighting shots and adding visual effects, forgoing typical visual generative efforts.
