ESPN and Disney+ are beta testing new AI-powered search and discovery features, according to a new announcement from The Walt Disney Company. The goal behind both tools is the same: helping someone find what they want even when they can describe it but can’t quite pinpoint it, whether that’s a stat buried somewhere in ESPN’s archives or a show that fits a mood rather than a genre.
On ESPN, the feature is called ESPN Search, and it is currently in beta with a subset of users. It lets fans ask sports questions in natural language and get answers, related content, stats, and recommendations pulled from ESPN’s own archive of articles, video, ESPN Research data, sports metadata, and internal knowledge systems built up over decades. On Disney+, the test is more about discovery than direct search. A small group of select subscribers can now describe what they’re in the mood for, through typed prompts, voice, or suggested options, and get recommendations based on that immediate mood rather than their usual viewing history. Disney gave the example of a longtime crime drama viewer who suddenly wants something lighter, a scenario the platform’s existing personalization would not typically catch.
This lines up with something FLN has been tracking for a while now. We previously reported on Walt Disney World testing AI-powered search for Cast Members on the parks website, and this new beta shows that effort is not an isolated experiment. Disney appears to be testing natural language search and discovery tools across several of its platforms at once, from the parks to streaming to sports.
Disney has not said when either feature might expand beyond its current beta groups. FLN will keep watching for updates as testing continues
