Netflix is now using AI to keep you glued to their app

Summary

Netflix’s new UI refresh focuses on AI-driven responsive recommendations to keep users engaged.
Subscriptions for Disney+, Hulu, and Max are on the rise despite price hikes and controversies.
The first trailer for the final season of Squid Game has been released

If you’re Netflix, the biggest existential threat to your business is users closing your app. You need folks to constantly be

streaming
as much as they can, whenever they can, no matter what changing economic conditions may be doing to their wallets. As long as they can keep finding one more show to watch, maybe the threat of cancellation can be kept at bay.

With that in mind, Netflix has announced a new UI refresh that uses AI technology to create what

Netflix
is calling “responsive recommendations,” which are auto-populating rows of recommendations that respond dynamically to recent viewing and browsing history. These new, personalized rows of recommendations will now fill your home screen, with content that previously filled this screen including Continue Watching, My List, and Remind Me lists, now found in the new My Netflix tab.

These changes will definitely take some getting used to, and response on Reddit has been pretty harsh so far. However, if Netflix’s goal is to keep your eyeballs glued to the screen recommending more and more titles to you, I can see how this new UI might help them succeed in that specific endeavor.

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Disney+, Hulu, and Max enjoy some solid subscriber growth

The year of unsubscribing hasn’t quite come just yet

Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming bundle

Subscription with ads: Yes
Premium Subscription: Yes
Live TV: No
Price: $16.99-$29.99
Free trial: No

Though price hikes and content controversies make headlines and make folks like me wonder about what could happen if there’s a movement towards mass unsubscriptions, it looks like, at least for Disney+, Hulu and Max, subscriptions are actually still on the rise, according to recent financial disclosures.

During its most recent financial period, Disney+ gained 1.4 million subscribers for a total of 126 million subscribers globally and Hulu added 1.1 million subscribers to its rolls, bringing their total up to 54.7 million total subscribers across both Hulu and Hulu + Live TV.

And the news was even better at Warner Bros. Discovery, which added 5.3 million subscribers during its most recent fiscal period, rising to 122.3 million globally.

Though there’s plenty of chatter online about folks paring down their subscriptions and streaming services, it seems like, at least for now, both consumer retention and growth remains high, and entertainment spending hasn’t yet taken a hit from higher prices.

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Netflix reveals trailer for final season of Squid Game

Are you in the game?

Netflix

Squid Game

Release Date: 2021 – 2024
Network: Netflix
Showrunner: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Directors: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Writers: Hwang Dong-hyuk

Lee Jung-jae

Seong Gi-hun / ‘No. 456’
Park Hae-soo

Cho Sang-woo / ‘No. 218’

Squid Game has been a massive hit for Netflix and the final season of this pop-culture juggernaut is set to hit the streamer all at once on Friday, June 27. Though there have been rumors of spin-offs and even an American set re-make, as of right now, this new season is set to be the end of the franchise for the moment, and if the trailer is anything to go by the series will almost certainly be going out with a bang. There’s no dialogue, but a sound effect right at the very end hints at what may be to come at the close of this blockbuster series. Check it out below:

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Andor season 2 continues to raise the bar for not only Star Wars, but TV in general

A rare double Pocket Pick!

Disney+

Andor

Release Date: 2022 – 2025-00-00
Network: Disney+
Showrunner: Tony Gilroy
Directors: Susanna White
Writers: Dan Gilroy

Stellan Skarsgård

Luthen Rael

When I first started this column several months ago my vision was to spotlight a different show or movie every week that I felt was worth checking out. And while I’ve recommended everything from a

gripping medical drama on Max
to a fun reality show on Peacock, I have to break with tradition and once again recommend Andor season 2 for a second time. With the latest batch of episodes not just focusing on themes of disinformation, propaganda, and violence, but also including a real “I never thought the leopards would eat MY face” moment (IYKYK), the series feels more topical than ever, and if you aren’t watching it, you may be missing some of the best TV of 2025.