Beyond the Big Screen: Formula Drift and Grabyo launch motorsport’s first AI-tracked vertical live streams, powered by AWS
Los Angeles, California, United States of America, February 24, 2026. Formula Drift has partnered with Grabyo to showcase a new technology for live vertical streaming, with a scalable production model that turns a single live feed into a multi-platform experience for racing fans
The series can now offer a live vertical video as a high-impact complement to its traditional broadcast, reaching fans where they live: on social, mobile and in the feed.
In a high-stakes environment where every second counts, Formula Drift is using Grabyo, powered by AWS Elemental Inference, to process video once and adapt it everywhere – instantly.
The result? A professional, AI-reframed vertical live stream and 9:16 social clips delivered to fans as the action happens.
Why it matters: Mobile-first means ‘now’ not later
Grabyo and AWS Elemental have built vertical production directly into the live production pipeline. The real-time video AI follows the action as it unfolds, reframing every moment for mobile automatically. It’s live, mobile-first, and completely seamless.
A single feed produces multiple outputs at once, including a vertical stream optimized for mobile viewing. No additional cameras. No parallel productions. No hard-edged manual crops that miss most of the action on screen.
Using Grabyo’s cloud technology, Formula Drift – supported by Transition Productions – can deliver vertical streams that mirror the high production value of a traditional broadcast. From live graphics to multi-channel audio, this infrastructure allows a single feed to be adapted into live race vertical broadcasts, alt-casts, creator streams, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content
This flexible, cloud-native approach offers huge advantages for broadcasters looking to scale their vertical video output without the traditional overhead and costs.
From live to social in seconds
With Grabyo bringing AI intelligence directly into the live video pipeline, the benefits flow through the entire production system. Live clipping and social publishing now inherit the same AI-reframed 9:16 output, allowing digital teams to hit “publish” faster than ever before.
While many automated clipping tools offer a fixed approach to vertical reframing – meaning once a clip is transformed to vertical it cannot be edited or changed to perfect the output. The combination of Grabyo and AWS Elemental Inference provides a faster, more flexible, and more powerful set of real-time editing tools for vertical content creation.
In addition to vertical live streaming, editors can fine-tune 9:16 short-form clips as they are created, and combine this with additional AI features for event-detection and captions.
The result is a platform dedicated for 9:16 publishing across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts and mobile apps, with more options for speed and editorial control than any other tools available in the industry.
A blueprint for modernizing live production
To meet the needs of today’s audience, live production must extend beyond the TV screen. Formula Drift and Grabyo have shown that cloud production offers the speed and flexibility to treat vertical video as a core part of the broadcast strategy, rather than a cost-intensive add-on.
By removing the financial and operational barriers to multi-screen production, it is possible for content owners to deliver live broadcasts to every fan, wherever they are.
“This is about making vertical video a native part of live production, not an afterthought. By combining AI-driven verticalisation with cloud-based production tools, teams can scale content across platforms while maintaining the quality, reliability, and editorial control they expect in a professional broadcast environment.” Gareth Capon, CEO, Grabyo
“Formula DRIFT has always taken pride in the fact that we early-adopt many of the innovations in the broad, digital marketplace. We’ve been first-to-market on many of the technologies that are commonplace today and that have been instrumental in our recruitment of a strictly under 30 audience. Being able to generate live vertical outputs from a single feed is exactly one of these innovations and opens up entirely new ways to reach fans on the platforms they use most. It allows us to experiment with new formats without compromising the core broadcast.” Ryan Sage, President and Co-Founder, Formula DriftChase Levitt, VP Sales, Lingopal
About Grabyo
Grabyo is a cloud-native platform for live production, clipping and multi-platform video distribution. It provides broadcasters, media companies and sports brands with the tools they need to produce digital content at scale.
Designed for modern workflows, Grabyo supports live events from alt-casts and social video to multi-camera live broadcasts in the cloud. The platform combines live production, real-time clipping, and publishing tools, with integrated AI services for vertical video reframing, captions and languages.
Grabyo is trusted by leading broadcasters, publishers,and rights holders including Globo, ITV, Univision, UFC, CNN, WWE, and the NCAA.
Find out more at: grabyo.com
About Formula Drift
Established in 2003, Formula DRIFT is North America’s first official professional drifting series and has evolved into the global leader of the sport. Recognized as the most elite international drifting championship, the series challenges the world’s best drivers in high-horsepower, purpose-built vehicles. Unlike traditional motorsports, Formula DRIFT is a judged competition focused on line, angle, and style, rather than elapsed time.
The 2026 season features a radical expansion, visiting iconic new venues including Stafford Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Raceway Park, and a return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The series consists of two primary divisions: the PRO Championship and the Link ECU PROSPEC Championship, providing a structured ladder for driver development from grassroots to the professional world stage.
Find out more at: https://www.formulad.com/
