According to a report by Sarah Perez on TechCrunch, the world's largest entertainment platforms are beginning to resemble one another in a way that is far from accidental. For about a decade, various companies fought for dominance over a single format—whether it was music, video, podcasts, or audiobooks. Now, in an era driven by artificial intelligence (AI), this struggle is shifting and expanding into something much broader: these platforms are competing to become the user's "default app"—the one they instinctively open whenever they have spare time to spend, regardless of the format in which the content is delivered.
There are several key reasons driving this trend. First, the entertainment app market is reaching maturity, which has led to a slowdown in growth and forced companies to compete for the time users spend in-app and the average revenue per user, rather than focusing solely on acquiring new subscribers. Second, modern creators often operate across multiple formats simultaneously, making it highly logical to provide them with a single home that centralizes all of their content rather than just fragmented pieces of it. The third reason lies in artificial intelligence technology, which makes it easier for a single company to build and manage multiple formats at a high level of execution. The broader the content mix within an app, the more time users spend there, which in turn drives both advertising and subscription revenues.
Netflix: From Streaming Movies and Series to Games and Podcasts
Netflix represents a clear example of this trend. Over the past several years, the service has added games, live sports, and other live events to its offering, and has recently integrated short video clips and podcasts. The underlying strategy behind these moves is to capture a larger share of users' time, even when there isn't a specific movie or series they want to watch at that exact moment. Furthermore, the company is attempting to find a way into the smaller fragments of users' free time—moments they typically fill by scrolling through social media, playing casual games, or watching TikTok and other social networks like Instagram Reels.
On the technological and content-production front, Netflix relies significantly on artificial intelligence solutions. The company's Co-CEO, Greg Peters, told investors during the first-quarter earnings call that new model architectures are improving personalization and enabling the team to execute faster development cycles. AI-assisted coding also accelerates the speed at which these companies can build and launch new content areas in the first place. Beyond this, generative AI is being used for content creation, although this topic remains highly controversial due to artists' fears that AI tools will use their work for training purposes or lead to job losses. Netflix has chosen to deepen its involvement in this space, recently acquiring Ben Affleck's AI-based film production company for $587 million.
Spotify: Transitioning from Music Streaming to a Multifaceted Entertainment Space
Spotify is also expanding its footprint beyond its original premise as a home for streaming music. After adding podcasts, the company integrated support for video podcasts, social features such as Q&A and commenting, stories, and a messaging system. The company has even expanded its offerings to different types of content, including fitness classes, audiobooks, narrated magazines, and even physical book sales.
This is where artificial intelligence comes into play as a key driver. Spotify is currently testing a tool that will allow users to edit their Taste Profile, which is the preferences model built for them by artificial intelligence. The company is also developing AI features that enable users to chat directly with the AI about what they want to hear or build playlists of things they like—and not just in the realm of music.
YouTube: Integrating Short Content, Live Broadcasts, and Gemini-Powered Tools
YouTube, which was originally the home of long-form creator content, has moved to offer short-form content to compete with TikTok. At the same time, the platform added dedicated spaces for podcasts, gaming content, music, movies and TV shows, sports, news, shopping, and more. Today, users can watch free ad-supported movies and TV shows, stream live content, or rent and purchase movies and series to add to their personal library. At the current pace, merging the YouTube TV and YouTube Music services into the main YouTube app—and selling tiered access to the entire bundle—seems to be only a matter of time.
YouTube has utilized generative AI to launch additional creation tools for its content creators, but also to improve its search engine, add conversational AI features, build playlists, and expand content reach through auto-dubbing, among other things. Earlier this year, the company reported that more than one million channels used its AI-based creation tools, and that 20 million consumers used its Gemini-powered content discovery tool during the month of December. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai framed AI as a central component of the YouTube experience for both creators and viewers.
TikTok: Short Videos, Micro-dramas, and Sports Events
Even TikTok, known primarily for its short video clips, offers support for long-form content and other features such as travel planning, shopping, local exploration and touring, ticket purchases for live events, and more. The company also operates a standalone app designed for microdramas and another application called TikTok Pro Events designed for sporting events—such as the FIFA World Cup—alongside music festivals and other events.
TikTok has assembled its own version of integrating these technologies, which includes an in-app built-in AI chatbot, AI-based video creation tools, AI-driven search and recommendations, and AI-powered accessibility features. All four of these giant companies are, of course, also applying artificial intelligence to their advertising stacks, aiming to help advertisers write ads, target audiences, price ad placements, and measure results more efficiently.
The Future of Entertainment and the Content Operating System
This convergence trend carries significant meaning for users, as it reduces the need to switch between different apps. The app that a user chooses to visit gains a substantial advantage: it accumulates more data on their habits and creates a tighter customer lock-in, making it harder for the user to leave even if prices rise or the quality of service declines.
This is also the stage where artificial intelligence plays a critical role in building the entertainment operating system of the future. When the format itself ceases to be a differentiator, the value these apps offer depends on their ability to optimally connect users with the next content they want to consume. AI makes recommending content across different formats easier, sharpens personalization, and gives users more direct and greater control over how those recommendations are received. As the boundaries between music, video, podcasts, books, and games blur, the coming battle is no longer about which format will win, but rather which app will become the central place people go to for entertainment, regardless of how it is delivered.