DirecTV Will Soon Bring AI Ads To Your Screensaver
DirecTV will soon bring AI ads to your screensaver, turning your idle TV time into an interactive, shoppable experience. The company is teaming up with AI platform Glance to create personalized, AI-generated screensavers featuring you, your family, or even your pets—complete with clickable items you can purchase directly.
This futuristic update will launch on DirecTV Gemini devices next year, making television a more “lean-in” experience rather than just a passive one. “We want to give users a chance to use the advancements that have happened in generative AI to create a ChatGPT moment for themselves, but on TV,” said Rajat Wanchoo, Glance’s group vice president of commercial partnerships.
How DirecTV’s AI-Powered Screensavers Work
When DirecTV rolls out this feature, your screensaver won’t just display random visuals. Instead, it will generate a personalized AI scene featuring digital versions of you or your household members. As your likenesses appear on screen, viewers will also see AI-recommended products—from clothes to furniture—that resemble what’s shown in the environment.
These products won’t just be for show. They’ll include shoppable links, allowing users to buy similar items directly through their TV interface. It’s a blend of AI-driven personalization and e-commerce, turning downtime into a shopping opportunity.
Glance: The AI Company Behind The Scenes
The technology enabling this experience comes from Glance, an AI company owned by InMobi. Glance is already known for transforming digital screens into interactive, content-rich surfaces. Recently, it partnered with Samsung to add shoppable, AI-generated lockscreen images to Galaxy phones—where users can see themselves wearing different outfits created by AI.
Now, Glance aims to bring that same immersive, AI-based personalization to the biggest screen in your home: your television.
What This Means For Viewers
The idea that DirecTV will soon bring AI ads to your screensaver might raise some eyebrows. After all, not everyone wants their likeness—or their living room—turned into an advertising hub. However, DirecTV claims the goal is to enhance entertainment and convenience, not invade privacy.
Viewers will likely have options to customize or opt out of these AI-driven experiences. Still, the move hints at a broader trend in media: the blending of AI, personalization, and commerce to create more engaging content.
Why DirecTV Is Betting On AI Screensavers
DirecTV is joining the growing list of companies integrating AI into consumer experiences. As traditional TV viewership declines, platforms are searching for innovative ways to keep audiences engaged—and generate new revenue streams.
AI-powered screensavers serve both goals. They keep the display active and dynamic, while also promoting products in a way that feels more organic and personalized. This could mark the start of AI-driven advertising becoming a norm in connected TV ecosystems.
Potential Privacy and Ethical Concerns
Although the concept sounds futuristic, it raises familiar privacy questions. Will users’ likenesses be stored or analyzed by Glance or DirecTV? How will consent work when generating AI representations of people or their pets?
DirecTV and Glance haven’t shared full details yet, but transparency and data protection will likely play a major role in how users respond to this rollout. For many, the ability to control how their AI avatars are used will determine whether they embrace or reject the feature.
The Bigger Picture: AI Ads Redefining Entertainment
The fact that DirecTV will soon bring AI ads to your screensaver is just one example of how artificial intelligence is reshaping entertainment. Across streaming, gaming, and mobile devices, companies are using AI to merge personalization with monetization.
This move may pave the way for a future where every screen—from your TV to your phone—becomes a personalized, AI-enhanced shopping and content experience.
DirecTV’s partnership with Glance signals a bold step into the next era of interactive television. By combining generative AI, personalization, and commerce, the company is transforming something as simple as a screensaver into a gateway for engagement.
Whether viewers see it as innovation or intrusion will depend on execution. But one thing’s clear: DirecTV will soon bring AI ads to your screensaver, and the line between entertainment and advertising is about to blur more than ever before.
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