Annually, YouTube shares its “large bets” for the yr forward, and the corporate revealed its 4 most important priorities for 2026 in a weblog put up this week. Unsurprisingly, AI creation and viewing instruments have been one in every of YouTube’s large bets for 2025 — and the platform is doubling down on the know-how as we enter 2026. Notably, whereas YouTube additionally talked about AI guardrails final yr, the corporate plans to push again even tougher towards AI “slop” and deepfakes over the course of 2026.
YouTube says that its creators are “reinventing leisure” as they produce studio reveals and purchase Hollywood tons to degree up from user-generated content material to one thing extra. The model additionally touted that YouTube Shorts common 200 billion day by day views, and previewed different kinds of posts coming into the Shorts feed. Secondly, YouTube is laser-focused on making the platform protected for teenagers and teenagers, not excluding them from it.
YouTube is leaning tougher into AI creation in 2026
AI is not going wherever on YouTube — in actual fact, it has been “the quiet engine” driving improvements and options on the platform for years, in keeping with the put up. Nonetheless, YouTube appears to be taking a extra measured stance on AI this yr, acknowledging potential pitfalls and the necessity for transparency.
YouTube says multiple million channels used the platform’s AI creation instruments day by day in December 2025. It is also serving to creators in different methods, like content material moderation for feedback or age verification for viewers. In truth, YouTube has gone so far as to make use of an AI-powered system to determine the very best time to point out a YouTube Procuring product tag in a video.
That is nothing in comparison with what YouTube is planning to make use of AI for later this yr, although. The platform is teasing AI-generated YouTube Shorts that use a creator’s personal likeness. Quickly, you would possibly see AI-generated creators in your YouTube Shorts feed. Moreover, the platform will add AI-generated video games and music experiments, all leveraging AI, to YouTube.
Nonetheless, YouTube guarantees that “AI will stay a software for expression, not a substitute.”
YouTube is taking a tough stance towards deepfakes and slop”
Whereas there’s nonetheless loads of room for AI optimism at YouTube, it is good to see YouTube acknowledge the actual issues about AI-generated content material on the platform. Particularly, YouTube is reinforcing its dedication to transparency. It requires creators to reveal when lifelike altered or artificial content material is shared on the platform, and YouTube itself labels content material created or edited by YouTube AI.
We require that creators disclose when lifelike content material is made with altered or artificial media, together with Gen AI Labels might then seem inside the video description data, and if content material is said to delicate matters like well being, information, elections, or finance, we might also show a label on the video itself.
YouTube
YouTube can also be evolving the prevailing Content material ID system to assist creators spot and handle when AI-generated content material makes use of their likeness on the platform. From the authorized perspective, YouTube is supporting laws limiting deepfake content material, together with the NO FAKES Act.
Crucially, YouTube has an AI “slop” drawback, and it is aware of it. By slop, we imply “digital content material of low high quality that’s produced often in amount by way of synthetic intelligence.” It has a definition as a result of Merriam-Webster named “slop” its 2025 Phrase of the 12 months. That is how prolific low-quality, AI-generated content material is on the web at the moment.
YouTube is taking a stand towards slop, weighing its purpose of providing a spot of free expression towards a necessity for high-quality content material.
“To scale back the unfold of low high quality AI content material, we’re actively constructing on our established methods which have been very profitable in combatting spam and clickbait, and decreasing the unfold of low high quality, repetitive content material,” YouTube defined within the put up.
From a viewer perspective, YouTube watchers can anticipate AI to proceed impacting the streaming expertise, with options just like the Ask software or autodubbed content material.
YouTube remains to be placing creators first in 2026
AI is a sensitive topic for creators, and for good cause. Nonetheless, it appears like YouTube will proceed placing creators first, whilst AI instruments change into commonplace within the creation and enhancing processes. These present instruments are non-compulsory, and YouTube is taking crucial steps to battle slop and deepfakes.
That ought to resonate properly with creators. Maybe the larger level of influence for YouTube is that it continues to worth creator content material. It does a superb job compensating creators for his or her work, and YouTube highlighted that by the numbers. It paid over $100 billion to creators, artists, and media corporations over only a four-year span, and that is a staggering determine.
What’s much more spectacular is YouTube’s declare that its creator ecosystem “contributed $55 billion to GDP and supported greater than 490,000 full-time jobs.”
If YouTube continues supporting creators, each by providing financial incentives and by constructing AI instruments that assist them as a substitute of attempt to substitute them, 2026 ought to be one other large yr for the platform.
