Netflix is going whole hog on gen AI–but it still wants production partners to follow some rules

YouTube isn’t the only one secretly using generative “AI” tools. Last month, CEO Ted Sarandos said Netflix used a text-to-video generator in the production of Argentinian sci-fi miniseries The Eternaut, to cut down on human VFX costs for a scene where a building collapses. While Netflix had used generators before for things like scene visualization and shot-planning, The Eternaut (which came out in April 2025) was the first time generated video had appeared as part of the finished product.

“We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper,” Sarandos said at the time. “They’re AI-powered creator tools. So this is real people doing real work with better tools.”

Now that it’s done the “AI” deed itself, Netflix is allowing production partners to use generators, too–but unlike Netflix itself, they’re not allowed to keep generated assets in their final works.

In a company blog post, Netflix laid out five principles for using generators in production of content for its streaming platform:

1. The outputs do not replicate or substantially recreate identifiable characteristics of unowned or copyrighted material, or infringe any copyright-protected works
2. The generative tools used do not store, reuse or train on production data inputs or outputs
3. Where possible, generative tools are used in an enterprise-secured environment to safeguard inputs
4. Generated material is temporary and not part of the final deliverables
5. GenAI is not used to replace or generate new talent performances or union-covered work without consent

Also, anyone who uses generators must inform Netflix about it. That’s an intriguing requirement, considering how often studios caught using generated content in the past have issued public statements where they place the blame on contractors and/or claim to have no knowledge of large language model usage. Netflix, by setting these guidelines, is shunting aside its own potential plausible deniability–but that’s in service of it praising gen “AI” as an inextricable part of the creative future. (Hey, that also sounds like YouTube.)

To be clear, though, this isn’t a generator free-for-all. Netflix laid out some cases where production partners would need written permission to move forward with using “AI,” and others where they wouldn’t be allowed to.

Written permission uses include using Netflix’s own proprietary data, using other artists’ work to train generators, using prompts that reference copyrighted works, using generators to create key characters/settings/visuals, and using generators to recreate the likenesses/voices/etc of real human talent (so they can’t make a fake Darin De Paul and call it a day).

The big no is production partners trying to use generators to make footage of real events or people.

“Audiences should be able to trust what they see and hear on screen,” Netflix said. “GenAI (if used without care) can blur the line between fiction and reality or unintentionally mislead viewers.”

Netflix might have slipped in care itself previously. We mentioned above that The Eternaut was the first time generated video had appeared in a finished Netflix project. That’s true–but Netflix had already appeared to use generated photos in a project. The true crime documentary What Jennifer Did featured photos of its subject with suspiciously Uncanny Valley hands and teeth–a hallmark of early generative models.

Obviously, if the photos were generated, their creation and inclusion in the documentary now breaks Netflix’s new guidelines, so this shouldn’t happen again.

Netflix’s guidelines are some of the first to be released publicly. We know Hollywood studios are using generators, but they’re mostly close-mouthed about it. The biggest discussion around generated content guidelines comes from SAG-AFTRA, which backed down from a total ban on AI and now is fine with it being used, so long as the union gets its $$$ cut. SAG-AFTRA is still negotiating what’ll be allowed in the next contract with studios, but since everyone wants the money that comes from churning things out without paying for human labor, we’re guessing generators will have a significant presence in our digital realm and in Hollywood for the foreseeable future.