Amazon weighs AI-led Prime Video redesign after Bezos push

WASHINGTON: Amazon is working on a major redesign of Prime Video that would place artificial intelligence more prominently across the streaming service, after founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos pressed executives to better showcase the company’s AI capabilities.

The project, known internally as Lighthouse, is aimed at exposing more than 200 million Prime Video users to Amazon’s AI tools and is seen as part of a broader company effort to strengthen its standing in artificial intelligence as rivals including OpenAI and Anthropic move ahead. Amazon has declined to comment.

Meeting with Bezos prompted shift

The initiative emerged from an internal presentation by Prime Video executives to Bezos last autumn that became tense. Bezos was said to be dissatisfied that plans to update the service did not do enough to emphasise AI and personalisation. That reaction led Prime Video executives to abandon their earlier approach and move ahead with Lighthouse.

Bezos has remained personally engaged in the overhaul and has received periodic updates, an unusual level of involvement given that he stepped down as chief executive in 2021 and has largely moved away from Amazon’s day-to-day operations. Kam Keshmiri, Prime Video’s global head of design, attended the meeting with Bezos and is now leading the redesign effort.

Features under discussion

Lighthouse includes a range of AI-based features intended to improve film and television recommendations by learning users’ preferences and responding to spoken requests, according to one person familiar with the project. Prime Video is also reworking its home page.

Among the concepts discussed are AI-generated tiles carrying ready-made viewing prompts such as action movies from the 1980s or Christmas rom-coms, according to three of the people cited. Another source said a current version does not rely on text-heavy tiles. The standard search bar would remain in place, along with top-screen promotional space for new titles or live events including Thursday Night Football, the National Football League package exclusive to Amazon.

One person said Amazon is already testing versions of the redesign with a limited number of users. The plans could still change depending on early feedback as well as financial or other concerns.

Business stakes for Prime Video

Michael Goodman, director of entertainment research at Parks Associates, said any shift toward stronger personalisation could affect the current system under which studios pay for placement and algorithms also influence what appears on the home screen. He said screen placement on the service is commercially important for content providers.

“The real estate on the home screen is very valuable to studios, so it would be a big change to take away any of that coveted space,” said Goodman.

Improved personalisation could increase the amount of time users spend on Prime Video. The service is one of Amazon’s best-known consumer brands and is available in markets where the company has little or no e-commerce presence. Beyond free shipping, Prime Video is described as the most-used benefit within the Prime subscription.

As part of Lighthouse, Amazon has also discussed adding Alexa to Prime Video’s search tools. Amazon released a revamped generative AI version of Alexa in early 2025 and then integrated it into its main shopping platform in May 2026.

Competition and wider AI push

Amazon plans to spend about $200 billion on capital expenditure this year, mainly tied to AI development, and has made an initial $23 billion investment in OpenAI and Anthropic combined, with scope for that figure to rise by another $40 billion. Other AI projects at Amazon, including a years-long effort to make Alexa more conversational, have delivered mixed outcomes and that the unit is still losing money, according to people previously cited by Reuters.

In the United States, Prime Video is the fourth most-watched streaming platform. Nielsen data for April placed its share of television viewing at 4.2%, behind YouTube at 13.4%, Netflix at 7.8% and Disney+ at 5%.

Amazon expanded its entertainment ambitions with the $8.5 billion purchase of MGM in 2022, giving it access to major franchises including James Bond. Prime Video last introduced a substantial redesign in July 2024 to help users better distinguish between titles included in the service and content that carries an extra charge, such as add-on subscriptions and rentals. Amazon now wants the platform to serve as a central hub for paid subscriptions as well.