Share I cover Hollywood and AI for paid subscribers. Recently, I wrote about the entertainment industry’s latest text-to-video controversy centered on ByteDance’s Seedance, the ways Hollywood stymied the rise of OpenAI’s video model Sora, and profiled eight companies that are implementing AI responsibly. Over the past few weeks, Hollywood has been gripped by AI panic. Open letters, full-page ads, think pieces, and social media campaigns warn that artificial intelligence—especially models trained on copyrighted content—could disrupt the economic foundations of creative work. Yet, during this frenzy, Ben Affleck was quietly building an AI company. In 2022, Affleck launched InterPositive, a startup creating AI tools specifically for filmmaking. Their models train on the footage of a given production to assist with tasks such as adjusting lighting, reframing shots, and correcting continuity issues during post-production. Just last week, Netflix acquired InterPositive and appointed Affleck as a senior advisor. This deal perfectly illustrates the paradox playing out in Hollywood: Stars publicly caution that AI might usurp their jobs while privately investing in technologies that could do just that. The real battle in Hollywood isn’t about halting AI development—the momentum is unstoppable.

Instead, it’s about control: who owns the data, who licenses the digital likeness, and who earns when a virtual version of an actor replaces the real one. To grasp the tension, it helps to differentiate three distinct categories often grouped under “AI. ” First are generative models like Sora or Kling, which produce entirely new images or videos, typically trained on vast datasets containing copyrighted works. These have incited the strongest backlash from Hollywood creatives. Second are production tools already integrated into filmmaking workflows—software used to clean up visual effects, enhance lighting, synthesize ADR, or simplify editing. Third are synthetic performances: digital doubles enabling an actor’s face, voice, or movements to appear on screen without their physical presence. Hollywood’s loudest objections target the first category. However, the second and third categories are increasingly welcomed—sometimes passionately—by those same artists who decry AI publicly. Here’s the part Hollywood rarely admits: The industry isn’t truly trying to stop AI. Below, I analyze: - What Affleck’s Netflix acquisition reveals about Hollywood’s genuine AI strategy - Why stars can publicly protest AI while embracing it on set - How the industry is quietly creating a licensing economy around digital likenesses - Why actors may soon operate less like performers and more like intellectual property This column is exclusive to paid subscribers. Interested in a group subscription for your team or company?Click here. For full access and to continue reading all Ankler content, paid subscribers can click here. Click here to keep reading Share Image credits: Monica Schipper/Getty Images; Cindy Ord/Getty Images; Arturo Holmes/Getty Images