Netflix is going to start implementing AI and pause screen ads starting in 2026, and subscribers are not happy about it.
On May 14, Netflix revealed that its $7.99 ad-supported subscription tier had reached 94M subscribers – and next year, some of those ads are going to be AI generated.
As reported by Media Play News, President of Advertising Amy Reinhard revealed that users who subscribe to the lower tier spend 41 hours a month on the platform, and soon, they’ll start getting AI-generated ads during shows and while paused.
This means that when you’re binging Stranger Things, Squid Game, Devil May Cry or movies added to the platform, you’ll be interrupted by ads that weren’t made by humans. The response hasn’t been positive.
AI ads could impact your next Squid Game binge.
Netflix subscribers threaten cancelation over AI ads
The news hit users who pay for the $7.99 tier hard, and many are willing to cancel their subscriptions if they start seeing AI ads.
“If this were on a free streaming service, fine. I’ll be canceling the moment I’m forced to watch ads,” one said.
“If this happens to me one time, I will cancel and never come back after 20 years,” warned another.
“And I have zero reason to watch Netflix. No one likes ads, don’t put them in the middle of a show. That’s a great way to get people to unsub,” someone else chimed in.
Hard pass. The reason streaming services became popular in the first place was they were free of ads that you got on regular TV. I have zero reason to want to use a streaming service that annoys me with garbage that doesn’t change my behavior in terms of purchasing.
— Justin Bissell (@justin_bis92964) May 15, 2025
Pause screen ads have impacted other platforms, as well. In 2024, YouTube finally implemented ads on paused videos – something that Hulu did back in 2019.
It should be noted, however, that Netflix’s ads are not as frequent as they are on other platforms, and users can go quite some time without encountering one.
That said, for those not wanting to see AI ads at all and may not feel comfortable sailing the high seas, the only other solution is to pay for a higher tier.
