YouTube Unveils Powerful New AI Tools for Creators

At its annual Made on YouTube event, the video giant pulled back the curtain on a host of powerful new updates, features, and tools, with a major focus on empowering creators through artificial intelligence. From a completely revamped Studio experience to new ways to monetize content, here’s a breakdown of everything announced.

A Revamped YouTube Studio Experience

YouTube is rolling out significant upgrades to its creator hub, Studio, designed to streamline workflow and protect creators.

One of the standout features, now in open beta, is a “likeness” detection tool. This allows creators to find and manage unauthorized videos that use their face, providing a new layer of control over their digital identity. Further leaning into AI, an “Ask Studio” feature will act as an intelligent guide, answering creators’ questions about their accounts and analytics.

Collaboration is also getting easier. A new feature will allow up to five creators to collaborate on a single video, with the final content being available to the audiences of all participants. Other key updates include an inspiration tab for new ideas, A/B testing for video titles, and AI-powered lip-sync dubbing to reach global audiences.

Taking Livestreams to the Next Level

YouTube Live received several updates to make streams more interactive and less disruptive. Creators can now broadcast in both horizontal and vertical formats simultaneously, play minigames to engage viewers, and react to live events. A major change comes to advertising with the new “side-by-side” format, which runs ads adjacent to the stream rather than interrupting it. Additionally, AI-powered highlights will automatically identify the best moments from a livestream and package them into shareable Shorts.

Supercharging Shorts with Generative AI

YouTube is integrating a custom version of Google’s text-to-video AI model, Veo 3 Fast, directly into the Shorts creation process. This will allow creators to apply motion from one video to an image, add creative styles, or insert objects into a scene using simple text prompts. Another AI tool, leveraging Google's Lyria 2 music model, can transform dialogue from videos into unique, catchy soundtracks for new Shorts.

Deeper Connections on YouTube Music

Updates to YouTube Music are focused on strengthening the bond between artists and fans. New features include countdown timers for upcoming releases and the ability for artists to send personalized “thank you” videos to their supporters. The platform is also testing a pilot program in the U.S. that will give listeners access to exclusive artist merchandise drops.

AI-Powered Tools for Podcasters

Podcasting on YouTube is set to become more efficient. Video podcast creators in the U.S. can now use AI suggestions to quickly identify and create compelling clips from their episodes. Looking ahead, a new feature launching next year will enable creators to easily transform their existing audio-only podcasts into engaging video formats.

New Monetization Opportunities

YouTube is expanding the ways creators can earn money. Enhancements to the YouTube Shopping program include auto-timestamps that tag products at the exact moment they are mentioned and auto-tagging for eligible items. For brand deals, creators can now add a dedicated brand link to Shorts and will even be able to swap out brand sponsorships in older long-form videos. The platform's creator partnerships hub will also use AI to proactively suggest creators to brands, simplifying the process of securing sponsorships.