HBO Max adds AI-curated Shorts and conversational search to its mobile app
HBO Max launched two AI-powered features on July 28 as streaming services race to cut monthly churn, which industry analysts put at 5.5–6.3% in 2025–2026. The first is Shorts — a vertical clip feed built from trailers, scene highlights, and bonus material. The second is Ask HBO Max, a conversational search tool that understands plain-language queries instead of requiring exact titles or genre tags. Both are currently US-only tests, per the WBD press release.
The features
Shorts works through a two-stage process. HBO's in-house machine-learning system scans the catalog at scene level, identifying moments likely to hook a viewer — a fight, a twist, a laugh. Human editors then reformat the best picks into vertical video for phone screens. If a clip lands, users can add the full show or film to a watchlist with one tap. The feed is personalized to each account's viewing history. Shorts is currently live for a subset of iOS users in the US; no Android or international date has been set.
Ask HBO Max takes a different angle on the same problem. It accepts mood-driven, intent-based queries — the example given is asking for "the best films for a bachelorette party" rather than browsing by genre. The tool returns recommendations even when there's no exact metadata match, using semantic search (meaning it maps the meaning of a query rather than hunting for keyword matches). This feature is available now on Android for adult users in the US only.
Why now
Streaming churn has become the industry's defining headache. TechTimes (July 29, 2026) cites retention data showing subscribers who engage with content in the first 72 hours after signing up are roughly twice as likely to stay. Shorts is designed to close that gap — giving a new (or lapsed) subscriber a reason to linger within minutes of opening the app. HBO Max isn't alone here: Netflix rolled out its own Clips feature to the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and India in April 2026, and Disney+ already runs a vertical feed.
Availability
Right now these features only exist for US subscribers — Shorts on iOS, Ask HBO Max on Android. Warner Bros. Discovery says expansion to other devices and markets is planned but has given no specific dates. UK users are waiting alongside everyone else outside the US.