Ben Affleck's life beyond Hollywood: Python coding, working with GPUs, AI and neural networks for years. Actor even got access to Google, OpenAI's labs

For years, Ben Affleck was known primarily as an actor, filmmaker and Oscar-winning screenwriter. But behind the Hollywood career was another interest that eventually took him deep into artificial intelligence, coding, GPUs, and neural networks and ultimately led to Netflix acquiring his AI filmmaking company for $587 million. In a recent conversation with GQ, Affleck offered an unusually detailed look at his technical journey, explaining how his fascination with computers evolved into a business built around AI and filmmaking.

Ben Affleck has been interested in computers for years

Ben Affleck said his interest in technology began long before the current AI boom. “I've always been kind of into computers since I was young,” he said in the interview. As filmmaking moved from analogue film to digital production, that interest became increasingly connected to his profession. He began exploring visual-effects workflows and machine learning, even writing his own Python scripts. “And the visual effects workflow, for many years, has included machine learning so I can write like pretty shitty Python scripts and stuff like that,” Affleck said. He also said he had worked extensively with GPUs while running a visual-effects company before launching Artists Equity.

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From Neural Networks To Visiting Google And OpenAI

Ben Affleck's interest went beyond simply using technology. He began studying how convolutional neural networks could analyse visual information. He explained how images could be translated into numerical data called a tensor, allowing neural networks to identify patterns such as edges and features. Those concepts became familiar to him through visual effects and machine learning.


When people working in visual effects told him that Google and OpenAI were doing interesting work with transformers and video, Affleck said he was able to approach their teams directly. “I can actually just call up and go, ‘Hey, it's Ben Affleck. Can I come to see what you're doing?’ And sometimes people say yes,” he recalled. Seeing what generative AI could produce initially alarmed him. “I called Matt and I was like, ‘Dude, we're fuc*ed,’” Affleck recalled, referring to Matt Damon.

Why Ben Affleck Started His Own AI Company

Rather than accepting that AI would simply replace filmmaking jobs, Affleck began examining how the technology could be developed specifically for filmmakers. He became concerned that generic AI models did not sufficiently understand filmmaking, including how images are captured and how production data is structured. He eventually decided to build his own dataset using cameras, LiDAR and location-specific equipment on volume stages. That work became InterPositive, founded in 2022. Netflix later described the company as developing “AI-powered tools built by and for filmmakers”, to protect and expand creative choice.

Watch Ben Affleck's full interview:

Netflix Buys Ben Affleck’s AI Company

Netflix announced its acquisition of InterPositive in March 2026, bringing the entire team into the streaming company and appointing Affleck as a senior adviser. At the time, the financial terms were not disclosed. Months later, a Netflix regulatory filing revealed the price: approximately $587 million in cash. The Los Angeles Times reported that InterPositive's technology focuses on filmmaking and post-production while keeping creative decisions with artists.

Ben Affleck said he was particularly pleased that Netflix became the buyer because it is a major film studio and a guild signatory. “It’s a way of enshrining this technology inside a space that does exist… with an understanding that the producers, and the artists, and the crafts, we're all in this together,” he said.

Ben Affleck’s Bigger Argument About AI

For Ben Affleck, the story is not simply about an actor becoming a tech entrepreneur. His central argument is that AI should be developed as a tool for filmmakers rather than a replacement for them. Netflix echoed that philosophy when the acquisition was announced. Chief Product and Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone said the company believed innovation should “empower storytellers, not replace them.”

Ben's unusual journey from Python scripts and GPUs to neural networks, Google and OpenAI labs, and eventually a $587 million Netflix acquisition shows that his relationship with technology has been developing alongside his Hollywood career for years. And as AI increasingly enters filmmaking, the actor appears determined to remain part of the conversation not just in front of the camera, but behind the technology shaping what comes next.