Prime Video rolls out AI Video Recaps to help viewers catch up before new seasons

New Delhi: Amazon Prime Video has rolled out an AI-led feature called Video Recaps that automatically creates season summaries for viewers who want to catch up before starting a new season.

The company said the tool uses generative AI to pick the most important plot points of a season and stitch them into a “theatrical-quality” recap with clips, dialogue, narration and music.

The feature is being positioned as Prime Video’s next step in applying AI to improve discovery and continuity in long-form storytelling. Prime Video said Video Recaps builds on its 2024 launch of X-Ray.

Recaps, which offered spoiler-free text summaries of key moments and character arcs.

With Video Recaps, the same idea moves from text to video, aiming to reduce drop-offs between seasons and help casual viewers re-enter shows without a full rewatch.

According to Prime Video’s product note, the AI first analyses the season to understand pivotal character arcs and story turns, then selects the most compelling clips and pairs them with audio effects and an AI-generated voiceover, producing a single recap video for that season. The company said the recaps are designed to be comprehensive enough to prepare viewers for the next season while still working as quick refreshers.

Viewers will see a recap button on a supported show’s detail page when they navigate to a new season. From there, they can choose between available recap formats, including video recaps and text-based X-Ray Recaps.

Video Recaps is currently available in beta in the US for select English-language Prime Original series, including Fallout, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Upload, Bosch: Legacy and The Rig, with Prime Video saying it will expand to more devices in the coming months.

For content and platform marketers, the rollout highlights how streaming services are using AI not just for recommendations but to actively package and repackage storylines to keep audiences engaged over multi-season runs. As shows stretch across years and viewers juggle multiple platforms, recap utilities are becoming a retention feature, helping reduce friction between “intent to watch” and actually pressing play on a new season.