Max will show autoplaying video previews picked by AI

Max — soon to be called HBO Max again — is rolling out an update that automatically plays video previews when you hover over shows and movies. The video previews are launching to users in the US now, but Max is still working on an “AI-assisted” tool to pick the clips that go in them. In the “coming weeks,” Max says its AI tool will automatically identify “standout” scenes from its shows and movies, which its team will then use to choose the clips featured in video previews. “This AI-driven technology will enable us to identify Drop-in Moments for the vast catalog of content on Max and significantly reduce the manual time needed to curate previews,” Avi Saxena, Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief technology officer, said in the press release. [Image: The previews will appear when you hover over content. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/max-autoplaying.gif?quality=90&strip=all] The streaming service will also include an option to turn off the audio or video in the autoplaying content, similar to Netflix. Max updated its interface in January to move the options from its top menu bar to the left side of the screen — basically the opposite of what Netflix is doing in its upcoming homepage redesign. Max will have another big change sometime this summer, as that’s when the switch back to HBO Max will be official.