Netflix Is Launching a TikTok-Style Vertical Video Feed This Month and Plans to Use AI for Content Creation
Netflix is launching a TikTok-style vertical video feed within its apps this month, designed to help users discover content through short clips. The company also plans to use AI broadly for content creation and recommendations, according to TechCrunch. The moves signal Netflix's recognition that passive browsing is losing to algorithmic short-form content — and its intention to fight back on that front.
The Vertical Feed
A vertical scrolling video feed inside Netflix would let users swipe through short clips of shows and movies, similar to how TikTok and Instagram Reels surface content. The discovery problem on Netflix is real: the platform has an enormous library but users regularly report not knowing what to watch. A scrollable preview feed could reduce the friction between "opening the app" and "finding something to watch."
Netflix has experimented with short-form content before, including trailers and clips, but a dedicated vertical feed represents a more committed structural change to how the app surfaces content. It also moves Netflix closer to the social video behavior that has reshaped how younger users consume media.
AI for Content Creation
The more consequential announcement may be Netflix's plans to use AI for content creation itself — not just for recommendations. This could encompass everything from AI-assisted scriptwriting and production planning to AI-generated imagery, localization, and post-production work. Netflix has already been using AI for thumbnail personalization and recommendation algorithms; moving it into actual content creation represents a significant expansion of AI's role.
This also puts Netflix squarely in the middle of the ongoing debate about AI's impact on creative workers. The company's use of AI in content creation will be scrutinized by writers' and actors' guilds who negotiated AI-related protections in their most recent contracts.
Context: Netflix's Q1 Results
Netflix reported Q1 2026 revenue of $12.25 billion, up 16 percent year-over-year, but shares fell more than 10 percent after the company's Q2 guidance came in below estimates. The vertical feed and AI initiatives are part of a broader push to sustain growth through product innovation as the streaming market matures.
The Bottom Line
Netflix is copying TikTok's playbook for discovery while betting that AI can make content creation cheaper and faster. Both moves are logical responses to market pressure. Both will also generate controversy — from users who don't want algorithmic feeds, and from creatives who don't want AI in production.
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