HBO Max Rolls Out Vertical Video, AI Search to Help You Decide What to Watch
HBO Max has launched a vertical short-form video feed called HBO Max Shorts for iOS users in the United States, featuring curated clips and trailers. The platform also introduced an experimental natural‑language AI search tool named Ask HBO Max for Android users aged 18 and older. Both features are slated to expand to additional devices and markets while the parent company navigates a delayed merger amid antitrust challenges.
- ▪HBO Max Shorts initially appears on iOS in the US and offers editor‑selected clips generated with an AI tool.
- ▪Ask HBO Max lets users search for content using plain‑language descriptions and is currently limited to Android users 18+.
- ▪Future updates plan to add sports content to Shorts and broaden both features to more devices and regions.
- ▪The rollout occurs as Warner Bros. Discovery’s merger with Paramount‑Skydance is delayed due to antitrust lawsuits.
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| Original publisher | PCMag |
| Canonical URL | https://www.pcmag.com/news/hbo-max-rolls-out-vertical-video-ai-search-to-help-you-decide-what-to-watch |
| Publication time | Wed, 29 Jul 26 10:10:14 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-07-29T10:16:05.794Z |
| Last seen | 2026-07-29T10:16:05.794Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | bvkY0omvBtLf · 1 stories |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
HBO Max is the latest streaming platform to roll out a TikTok-style vertical short-form feed and an AI Search experience to help users quickly find their next watch.“HBO Max Shorts” will initially be limited to iOS users in the US. You can tap the new Shorts icon, next to the Home tab, to access the feed, which will feature trailers, clips, and bonus content based on your viewing history and preferences.If a clip prompts you to watch the show, you can tap the episode number to start watching or add it to your My List to watch later. The clips are selected by HBO Max editors, who pick from a pool of videos gathered by a built-in AI tool.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at PCMag.