Canal+ to add major AI features with OpenAI & Google Cloud

Canal+ has partnered with with OpenAI and Google Cloud to add significant AI features to its platform. 

The OpenAI partnership will see AI-powered search added to the Canal+ app from June 2026. OpenAI frontier models will allow users to search for content using natural language to describe their preferences, mood, or other topics, instead of key words. An example given by the French broadcaster is someone searching, ”something lighthearted, fun and entertaining to watch”, which might come back with reality TV series Loups-Garous. 

Maxime Saada, CEO of Canal+, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with OpenAI, one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies, to enhance the entertainment experience of our 40 million subscribers. This collaboration is part of Canal+’s long-standing tradition of innovation and its commitment to continuously reinventing entertainment. Today, our subscribers already access the very best international and local content on the Canal+ App. With this technological collaboration, we are proud to take a major leap forward, redefining how audiences discover content.”

Ashley Kramer, VP of enterprise of OpenAI, added: “People increasingly expect technology to understand them the way they naturally express themselves. By bringing OpenAI into the Canal+ App, subscribers can describe exactly what they feel like watching. It’s a great example of how advanced AI can make everyday entertainment experiences simpler, more intuitive, and more personal.”

Meanwhile Google Cloud will aim to accelerate the content video indexing of Canal+’s library. This will create an in-depth multimodal database combining sound, video, and text data, which will enable more personalised content recommendations on the homepage of the Canal+ App, matching each subscriber’s preferences according to their viewing habits.

In addition, Google’s Veo3 AI model will be used to assist Canal+’s production partners, for instance, previsualising a scene before shooting it or recreating historical moments from a single archival photo. Canal+ says that rights and asset ownership are “deeply protected” in this partnership, and production partners will continue to have full control of their production and editorial decisions with the option to use the AI tools. 

Stéphane Baumier, chief technology officer of Canal+, said: “We are pleased to leverage Google Cloud’s most advanced AI technologies to drive Canal+’s technical innovation. Building on a long-standing collaboration with Google, this strategic partnership paves the way for limitless possibilities. Content video indexing for Canal+ at scale gives the group a significant edge, notably by enabling us to deliver sharper discovery and truly enhanced personalized journeys on the Canal+ App across all our markets. Creativity is the cornerstone of Canal+’s content production. We are excited to push creative boundaries by providing creators with tools that enable AI-generated video scenes, impossible to produce using traditional methods.”

Matt Renner, president, chief revenue officer of Google Cloud, added: “The entertainment industry is at a pivotal inflection point where the intersection of creativity and compute power defines market leadership. Our deepened collaboration with Canal+ is a testament to a shared culture of relentless innovation. By leveraging Google Cloud’s generative AI technologies, Canal+ is not just adopting tools; they are architecting the future of media and fundamentally transforming the entertainment landscape on a global scale.”