Jeff Bezos wants Prime Video to focus more on AI
Jeff Bezos wants Prime Video to focus more on AI
New reporting indicates Bezos took Prime Video executives to task over the lack of spotlight on the streamer’s AI features in a meeting last fall.
Like all major tech-forward companies right now, every streaming service on the market is trying to figure out just how much artificial intelligence to use and how to best deploy it. Prime Video has launched a ton of AI features in the past 18 months, but according to new reporting, it isn’t enough for the company’s executive chairman, Jeff Bezos. The Amazon founder allegedly told Prime Video executives at a meeting last fall that he wants AI to be front-and-center on the streamer every time a subscriber logs in.
Key Details:
- Keep going: Bezos has pushed Prime Video head Mike Hopkins to use more AI on the platform.
- New options: Prime Video wants to use AI to improve recommendations and redesign its home page.
- Could be soon: The streamer is already testing various redesigns with some viewers.
According to reporting from Reuters, the streamer’s executives were meeting with their billionaire boss to present updates on the service, but were told that they were insufficiently highlighting the service’s AI and customization features.
That response from Bezos prompted Prime Video’s higher-ups to embark on a project known internally as Lighthouse, which is meant to better illuminate AI on the platform. Amazon has committed around $200 billion in capital to AI-related expenditures this year, and Bezos clearly wants users to see the fruits of that outlay on the video-streaming side of the business.
Lighthouse will use AI to further improve movie and TV recommendations by learning more about customer preferences and responding to spoken requests. Amazon also intends to use AI to overhaul the Prime Video homepage, though a final redesign has not yet been settled upon.
In fact, Amazon is currently testing versions of the remade homescreen with a few users, and the final plans for the user-experience overhaul may change after receiving feedback from test users. Bezos has been personally involved in rebuilding Prime Video with a focus on AI, which is noteworthy since Bezos has stepped back from most day-to-day operations at Amazon in recent years.
Amazon has already made several AI integrations with its streaming platform, including the recent greenlight of three animated shows that will be created using generative AI. The streamer clearly has no plans to slow down its use of artificial intelligence and is being told from the top that further AI integrations are required.
Prime Video
Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.