YouTube pushes AI-powered creation while moving to clean up ‘AI slop’

YouTube is set to introduce AI-generated content that will give creators new ways to scale their presence on the platform. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says that sometime this year, creators will  be able to make Shorts using their “own likeness.”

YouTube Shorts, the platform’s short-form video format, now averages 200 billion daily views. “We’ll have more to share soon, including the launch date and how the feature will work,” the YouTube spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle stated. 

According to the announcement, the likenesses are part of YouTube’s growing push into AI tools. Mohan says that YouTube will be integrating different formats, including image posts, directly into the feed this year. 

YouTube strengthens parental controls, adds time limits for shorts

YouTube already offers creators tools like an AI chatbot for channel analytics, AI-powered auto-dubbing, and AI-generated video clips for Shorts. Recently, YouTube said it would be expanding its “likeness detection,” which flags when a creator’s face is used without their permission in deepfakes. The feature is being rolled out to millions of creators in the YouTube Partner Program.

Mohan stated that the company will use AI as a tool and “not a replacement. He revealed that, on average, more than 1 million YouTube channels used its AI creation technology daily in December. In addition, YouTube averaged more than 6 million daily viewers who watched at least 10 minutes of AI-autodubbed content.

YouTube also announced updates to strengthen and simplify parental controls. Mohan emphasized that their core belief is that parents should decide what’s right for their families, not governments. Therefore, parents will soon be able to control how much time their kids spend scrolling through Shorts, including setting the timer to zero.

YouTube TV will also launch a “fully customizable multiview” feature. It will allow users to watch multiple live channels on a single screen. It will also roll out more than 10 specialized YouTube TV plans spanning sports, entertainment, and news, all designed to give subscribers more control. 

Creators will be able to use AI to create games with text prompts and experiment with music.

This move follows what some considered to be a direct attack on gaming videos. As reported by Cryptoplitan, YouTube announced new restrictions on content promoting gambling with digital goods, including NFTs and in-game items. 

Mohan assured creators that YouTube will continue to invest in different ways for creators to make money, ranging from shopping, brand deals, and fan-funding features like jewels and gifts. “We’re committed to building the most diversified economy in the world — one that turns a creator’s unique vision into a sustainable, global business,” he added. 

YouTube plans to cut down on ‘AI slop’

Mohan said that YouTube plans to cut down on ‘AI slop,’ low-quality, spammy AI-generated videos. According to him, it is a priority for the platform to improve tools to identify and remove fake or manipulated content, such as deepfake videos, starting in 2026.

“It’s becoming harder to detect what’s real and what’s AI-generated […] To reduce the spread of low-quality AI content, we’re actively building on our established systems that have been very successful in combating spam and clickbait, and reducing the spread of low-quality, repetitive content,” he wrote in his annual letter published Wednesday.

He said that YouTube clearly labels videos created by AI products and requires creators to disclose if they’ve produced altered content. The company’s systems also remove “harmful synthetic media” that violates its guidelines.

YouTube revealed in September that it’s paid out more than $100 billion to creators, artists, and media companies since 2021. Earlier in the year, analysts at MoffettNathanson estimated that if it were a stand-alone business, YouTube would be worth between $475 billion and $550 billion.

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