DirecTV’s New AI Screensavers Will Put You Inside the Ad

Starting in early 2026, DIRECTV will replace idle screensavers on its Gemini devices with an interactive, shoppable AI platform from Glance, a move reported by The Verge. The feature is designed to turn screen downtime into a personalized content and commerce feed.

• Your TV's new side hustle: Instead of scenic landscapes, the idle screen will become a personalized feed. The technology, developed with Google, uses on-device AI to display real-time info like sports scores and weather, but its main function is to let viewers browse shoppable brand catalogs—an experience that can be sent to a phone to complete a purchase.

• Say cheese: The feature takes over after 10 minutes of inactivity. It pushes personalization further by letting users scan an on-screen QR code to upload photos of themselves, which can then be inserted into AI-generated scenes on the television.

• Desperate times: For DIRECTV, which has seen its subscriber base fall from over 20 million to roughly 11 million in the last decade, the move is a clear play for new ad revenue. Glance, its partner, is owned by InMobi, a company previously known for putting ecommerce bloatware on budget Android phones.

This partnership represents a bet that monetizing idle screens can create a valuable new revenue stream for a legacy TV provider. The big question is whether consumers will embrace this level of interactive advertising or see it as an unwelcome intrusion, especially since it remains unclear if they can opt out.

To get a feel for the concept, Glance has released a video of the experience. This isn't DIRECTV's first foray into novel ad formats, as the company has also experimented with ads that appear when users pause content.