By George Glover

Media companies are going all-in on artificial intelligence as the industry strives to improve content recommendation tools and cut operating costs.

Less than a week after Netflix acquired an AI filmmaking technology company founded by Ben Affleck, French TV group Canal+ said on Wednesday it had struck a new multiyear partnership with Google Cloud.

Canal+ said the partnership would drive more personalized content recommendations on its app. The company will also give production teams access to Veo3, Google's generative AI video technology.

"This strategic partnership paves the way for limitless possibilities," Canal+ Chief Technology Officer Stéphane Baumier said.

"We are excited to push creative boundaries by providing creators with tools that enable AI-generated video scenes, impossible to produce using traditional methods," he added.

The deployment of the AI technologies will start in June 2026, across the European and African markets where the Canal+ app is available.

Canal+ isn't the only media company betting that AI can improve its content.

Netflix said in a letter to shareholders in October that generative AI represented a "significant opportunity" to improve recommendations and help filmmakers. The streamer said last week it had acquired InterPositive, the AI start-up founded by Affleck.

The collaboration was announced as Canal+ issued weak guidance for the current year. The company expects earnings before interest and taxes of 565 million euros ($655 million), well below the EUR882 million analysts were looking for.

Shares plummeted 15% in early trading Wednesday.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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March 11, 2026 05:28 ET (09:28 GMT)

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