Amazon just rolled out Video Recaps, a groundbreaking AI feature that creates theatrical-quality season summaries for Prime Video shows. The beta launch marks the first time generative AI has been used to automatically produce visual recaps with synchronized narration, dialogue clips, and music. Starting today, viewers can catch up on hit series like Fallout and Jack Ryan before diving into new seasons.
Amazon is making a bold play to solve one of streaming's biggest pain points - remembering what happened last season. The company just launched Video Recaps, a first-of-its-kind AI feature that automatically generates theatrical-quality video summaries to help viewers catch up before new episodes drop.
The timing couldn't be better. With streaming services churning out content faster than ever, viewers often forget crucial plot details between seasons. Netflix and Disney+ have relied on manual recap production, but Amazon's betting on AI to scale this process across its entire Prime Original catalog.
"Video Recaps marks a groundbreaking application of generative AI for streaming," Gérard Medioni, vice president of technology at Prime Video, told Amazon's press team. The feature demonstrates how Amazon's AWS AI infrastructure is now powering consumer experiences beyond enterprise clients.
Here's how it works: The AI analyzes entire seasons to identify pivotal plot points and character arcs. It then automatically selects the most compelling video clips, synchronizes them with dialogue snippets and music, and adds an AI-generated voiceover narrator. The result is what Amazon calls a "theatrical-quality visual recap" that feels professionally produced.
This isn't Amazon's first AI experiment in streaming. The company launched X-Ray Recaps in 2024, which creates spoiler-free text summaries of key details. But Video Recaps represents a massive leap forward - from simple text generation to full video production powered by AI.
The beta rollout starts today on living room devices for select English-language Prime Originals including Fallout, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Upload, Bosch, and The Rig. Amazon plans to expand device support and add more series in coming months, though international availability remains unclear.
The competitive implications are huge. While Roku and Apple TV+ focus on content discovery, Amazon's using AI to enhance the actual viewing experience. This could become a major differentiator as streaming wars intensify and customer retention becomes paramount.
