If you’ve ever opened an OTT app, scrolled endlessly and could not decide what to watch, JioHotstar says it has a fix, and it’s powered by AI.
JioHotstar and OpenAI on Wednesday announced a partnership to introduce a ChatGPT-branded conversational discovery experience on the streaming platform in India. Using OpenAI APIs, the new voice and text interface will allow users to explore what the companies describe as India’s largest streaming library through natural language conversations in multiple languages.
From scrolling to speaking
JioHotstar said the feature is designed to tackle the “what to watch” problem through what it calls Multilingual Cognitive Search, aiming to replace keyword searches and menu navigation with more intuitive discovery.
Instead of typing titles or filtering by genre, users will be able to speak their intent, mood or context, and receive recommendations that are described as context-aware and conversational.
The companies said the interface will work across languages, genres and moments, positioning it as a first-of-its-kind streaming innovation in India.
ChatGPT-powered discovery for live sports too
Beyond movies and shows, the partnership will also extend to live sports, where users can use conversational prompts to explore key moments, scores and player highlights, among other queries.
The rollout will begin with select experiences and expand in phases across live and on-demand formats, the companies said.
What JioStar and OpenAI said
“AI marks a transformative shift for the media and entertainment industry. It fundamentally disrupts every aspect of the value chain, from conceptualisation and production to discovery and monetisation. As a tech-native, user-first platform, JioStar is embedding AI at the very core of the user experience. Our partnership with OpenAI will allow viewers to discover, engage with, and even curate content simply using their voice. This is a fundamental reimagining of the entertainment experience; one that anticipates culture and feels deeply personal to every viewer.” Uday Shankar, Vice Chairman of JioStar, said.
“Traditionally, entertainment is a one-way experience where you passively consume content – AI completely changes that dynamic.” Fidji Simo, CEO, Applications, OpenAI, said. “Through our partnership with JioHotstar, we’re bringing personalised AI directly into entertainment and live sports, turning every moment into an opportunity for deeper engagement. Viewers can move seamlessly from watching to asking, from curiosity to context, and from exploration to recommendation in ways that feel natural, personal, and immediately useful.”
A two-way integration, including within ChatGPT
The partnership will not be limited to JioHotstar’s app. The companies said they will also introduce new experiences within ChatGPT, so users searching for entertainment recommendations there can receive contextual suggestions and relevant streaming links from JioHotstar’s catalogue.