Content protection and anti-piracy were not immune from the AI treatment at IBC 2026. The elephant in the room question we put to senior figures is what roles are played by AI in piracy today, and what happens as the technology continuously evolves into more capable forms? We all know that AI can make pirate sites quicker to build, but these tools are also being used to automate parts of the piracy operation, while accelerating the identification and exploitation of content. In the end, it is still difficult to grasp exactly how the other side is using AI to fight back, and what AI-based tricks pirates might have up their sleeves. While Swiss security specialist Nagra believes it has grabbed AI by the horns, there is a caveat. The company can automate plenty of the intelligence-gathering…