David Ellison Very Bullish on AI as Paramount Skydance Merges
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison told analysts on his first earnings call leading Paramount and Warner Bros. that AI will make content faster and cheaper. He compared it to CGI and said artists will not be replaced. The company also targets $6 billion in cost synergies.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said on his first earnings call leading both Paramount and Warner Bros. that he is very bullish on artificial intelligence, calling it potentially "the biggest creative unlock in modern history."
Ellison told analysts he expects AI to help his studios make content faster and cheaper. He described it as the biggest breakthrough in the industry since CGI effects went mainstream.
A pitch for AI, with a caveat
He also tried to calm fears about the technology. "In a world of AI slop we think there will always be a premium for truly hand-crafted storytelling," he said.
He added: "We also continue to believe that artificial intelligence is a tool for artists and will never be a replacement for them."
Ellison said the company has been developing its own AI tools. As a result, he said, "content will be easier to produce, projects across the organization will speed up, and how we work will transform."
Why he compared it to CGI
"The last time we saw anything close to this was really the advent of CGI and digital composites in the early '90s," Ellison said. He credited that technology with films such as Jurassic Park and Terminator 2.
"It's hard to imagine that AI is not going to have a more significant impact than that," he said.
He used Terminator as a cost example. James Cameron's original film was made for $4 million, Ellison said, while a shot-for-shot version today would cost $60 million to $70 million.
Cheaper budgets, he argued, would make studios more willing to gamble on original stories. "There's not a lot of bets that get taken like that across our industry," he said.
Scale and savings
Skydance plans to spend $30 billion annually across its content portfolio. That covers HBO projects, CBS procedurals, MTV reality shows, NFL sports rights and films at Warners and Paramount.
Ellison sees franchise intellectual property as a moat against a flood of AI-generated content. He described his empire as having 40 $1 billion franchises, and he cited more than 203 million subscribers at a soon-to-be merged Paramount+ and HBO Max. He said AI makes premium IP and live events "more valuable, not less."
The company is also looking for about $6 billion in cost synergies from merging Paramount and Warner Bros. Those savings come from cutting overlap in corporate overhead, real estate and facilities, and from consolidating back office functions. Scaling AI workflows across the combined company is part of the plan.
Ellison is the heir to his father Larry Ellison's AI-powered Oracle tech fortune, and the call named Oracle Fusion cloud apps as a tool for consolidating back office work.
Other announcements
Cameron has been one of Ellison's biggest backers. His Lightstorm banner bought an AI-driven 3D post-production firm in September.
Paramount Skydance said it will offer HBO Max and Paramount Plus as a bundle starting in "early 2027." Its games division is laying off staff.
