Netflix is testing an AI search engine to supercharge your recommendations

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OpenAI is helping out

Netflix logo on TV screen with viewer holding remote control
More AI is on the way to Netflix (Image credit: Shutterstock / MAXSHOT.PL)
  • Netflix is testing new AI-powered recommendations
  • It's live now for iOS users in Australia and New Zealand
  • You'll be able to ask for recommendations based on mood

Netflix has long used AI algorithms to recommend new movies and shows to its users, but it's now testing an enhanced experience that can suggest titles to watch based on your mood or whatever criteria you choose.

As reported by Bloomberg, and confirmed by Netflix to The Verge, the test is live now for iPhone users in Australia and New Zealand. For now, it seems the focus is on iOS, but US subscribers are apparently getting this "in the coming weeks and months".

The feature is going to be opt-in for users, at least to begin with, and will be powered by technology from ChatGPT developer OpenAI. As yet we haven't had any official announcement from either Netflix or OpenAI.

It's perhaps understandable that Netflix is taking a low-key approach to the new recommendation feature: the use of AI in movies and shows is under an increasing amount of scrutiny, with serious questions being raised about the creative industry.

How will this work?

A hand holding an Android phone running ChatGPT

Expect a ChatGPT-like experience – though Android users will have to wait (Image credit: Shutterstock / trickyaamir)

We haven't been able to test this out for ourselves at TechRadar, and there's not much to go off in the reports as yet. Being able to get recommendations based on your mood is really the only detail that's emerged so far.

However, given the way movie and show recommendations already work in generative AI bots such as ChatGPT, it's not difficult to imagine the sort of functionality that's heading to Netflix: a more personal, more detailed recommendation experience.

You can already ask ChatGPT to recommend movies similar to classic 90s action thrillers, less than two hours in length, and without excessive violence in them and get some decent answers back. Netflix's own version is likely to work in a similar way.

In other words, you'll be able to make all kinds of requests in terms of recommendations, from genre to setting, and you'll get a bunch of AI-picked movies and shows back – all available in the Netflix catalog, of course.

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David Nield
David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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