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YouTube is building a way for creators to make AI versions of themselves to feature in Shorts as it simultaneously pledges to clean up the AI slop proliferating on the platform.
The feature was announced today as part of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s annual letter, which calls the platform's expansion of its AI tool the "new creative frontier." Details are scant; Mohan said only that it launches this year and that “you’ll be able to create a Short using your own likeness."
Last year, YouTube introduced AI likeness detection, allowing creators to automatically detect when their faces are used in AI-generated videos. The platform also labels all videos that include AI-generated elements made through its own tools, and creators are obligated to disclose when a video includes what it calls "realistic" altered footage.
Mohan says you’ll soon be able to make AI-generated games with a single text prompt. That’s something YouTube has been experimenting with in beta using Gemini 3, but this is the first sign the platform plans to launch it for all creators. He also confirms new tools to help creators “experiment with music."
Mohan also addresses the platform's battle against AI slop. “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.”
Still, it's not going to ban slop channels just yet. "As an open platform, we allow for a broad range of free expression while ensuring YouTube remains a place where people feel good spending their time," he writes. "Over the past 20 years, we’ve learned not to impose any preconceived notions on the creator ecosystem. Today, once-odd trends like ASMR and watching other people play video games are mainstream hits."
YouTube confirmed that over a million channels used AI video-creation tools in December, while over 20 million viewers used the platform's Ask features, which allow you to pose questions to Google's AI models without leaving YouTube.
YouTube also confirmed that new YouTube TV plans are “coming soon” but didn't share a launch date. The plans will offer a cheaper subscription with genre-specific packages, including a dedicated sports deal to access FS1, NBC Sports Network, ESPN networks, and ESPN Unlimited.