YouTube will let creators make Shorts with their own AI likeness as platform battles AI slop
18 Sources
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YouTube will soon let creators make Shorts with their own AI likeness
YouTube Shorts viewers might soon see AI versions of their favorite creators when scrolling through their feeds. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced on Wednesday that creators will soon be able to make Shorts using their own likeness. "This year you'll be able to create a Short using your own
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YouTube Will Soon Let Creators Make Shorts Using Their AI Likeness
Aaron covers what's exciting and new in the world of home entertainment and streaming TV. Previously, he wrote about entertainment for places like Rotten Tomatoes, Inverse, TheWrap and The Hollywood Reporter. Aaron is also an actor and stay-at-home dad, which means coffee is his friend. YouTube is
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YouTubers will be able to make Shorts with their own AI likenesses
Your YouTube Shorts feed might soon be filled with a lot more AI-generated content from your favorite creators -- including AI-generated versions of the creators themselves. In his annual letter released today, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says that sometime this year, creators will be able to make
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YouTube Acknowledges Slop Problem, But It's Still Full Steam Ahead on AI Features
(Credit: Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 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
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YouTube CEO Says Battling 'AI Slop' a Top Priority in 2026
YouTube Chief Executive Officer Neal Mohan said combating the rise of low-quality "AI slop" on the platform will be a top priority in 2026, emphasizing the need to embrace artificial intelligence while better safeguarding the video app and its users. As it becomes harder for users to distinguish
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YouTube chief says 'managing AI slop' is a priority for 2026
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said reducing "AI slop" and detecting deepfakes are priorities for the Google-owned video site in 2026. "It's becoming harder to detect what's real and what's AI-generated," Mohan wrote in his annual letter published Wednesday. "This is particularly critical when it comes to
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YouTube CEO promises more AI features in 2026
YouTube is just as wary of the rise of AI slop as you, and that's why more AI-generated content is coming to the platform in the near future. In a lengthy outlining YouTube's 2026 plans, CEO Neal Mohan said the company will continue to embrace this new "creative frontier" by soon allowing its
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YouTube says AI is 'not a replacement' for expression, while letting creators replace themselves with AI
YouTube is doubling down on AI as a content production method by announcing that creators will be able to use an AI likeness of themselves to make Shorts. That means, conceivably, you could start watching Shorts from your favorite YouTubers that don't contain any real footage at all. Just like
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YouTube Plans AI Expansion in 2026 While Promising Crackdown on 'AI Slop'
The company frames AI as a creative aid as it pushes further into a TV-style streaming model and living-room viewing. YouTube is preparing a broad expansion of AI tools in 2026 while promising tougher enforcement against low-quality synthetic content, a balance that will shape how creators make
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YouTube Creators Can Soon Make Shorts With Their Own AI Likeness | AIM
The content platform aims to tackle AI-generated content while fostering a community of creators. YouTube has announced a new initiative that will allow creators to post Shorts featuring their own likeness, a move revealed in CEO Neal Mohan's annual letter on January 21. He emphasised that while
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YouTube to launch AI likeness management tools for creators
YouTube will soon enable creators to produce Shorts featuring AI versions of themselves, CEO Neal Mohan announced Wednesday. This new functionality will join existing AI tools on the platform, which currently manages an average of 200 billion daily views for Shorts. Mohan detailed the upcoming
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YouTube Will Soon Allow You to Clone Yourself for Videos
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced the change in his annual letter released earlier this week. He wrote that YouTube is planning a significant expansion of AI creator tools this year, including a new feature that lets creators generate Shorts using an AI clone of their own likeness. "This year
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YouTube Takes on OpenAI's Sora With AI-Generated Shorts Feature
The YouTube CEO said the company will experiment with music in 2026 YouTube has big plans for its platform and creators in 2026. The company is planning to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) more deeply in existing and new tools. The CEO of the streaming platform revealed on Wednesday that
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AI to drive YouTube's evolution in 2026, says CEO Neal Mohan
YouTube is set to embrace artificial intelligence in 2026. AI will guide video creation, content discovery, and manage deepfakes. Creators are becoming media companies, producing high-quality shows. YouTube is also enhancing monetisation for creators and focusing on safety for young
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YouTube Expands AI's Role in the Creator Economy | PYMNTS.com
The company framed AI as a core capability that will shape how creators make videos, how audiences discover them, and how YouTube manages quality as generative AI tools become more widespread. The blog post outlines new AI-powered creation tools, additional safeguards around misuse and early
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YouTube CEO Neal Mohan's Big Ideas for 2026: More Superstar Creators and Transparency, Less AI Slop
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan wants to make 2026 a year in which more creators build big, sustainable businesses ... and a year in which artificial intelligence enables them to do it faster. But in his annual letter to the YouTube community, which was published Wednesday morning, he also committed to
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YouTube Introduces AI Digital Twins to Help Creators Make Shorts
YouTube's New AI Digital Twins Could Change How Creators Make Shorts YouTube has officially launched YouTube AI Digital Twins, a new tool made to help creators expand their presence on Shorts. This advanced technology lets creators create high-quality AI clones, enabling them to produce videos
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YouTube CEO: Reducing AI slop videos, enhancing kids and teen content key focus in 2026
New update lets parents disable YouTube Shorts feed for kids As YouTube enters its third decade of operation, the platform is facing a unique crisis of abundance. With generative AI tools making video creation easier than ever, the floodgates have opened - not just for high-quality creativity, but
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YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced creators will soon make Shorts using their own AI likeness, joining tools like AI auto-dubbing and AI-generated clips. With over 1 million channels using AI creation tools daily in December and Shorts averaging 200 billion daily views, YouTube pledges to combat low-quality AI content while expanding generative AI features for its creator ecosystem.
YouTube Introduces AI Likeness Feature for Shorts Creation
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced in his annual letter that creators will soon be able to create Shorts with AI using their own likeness
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. The feature, set to launch sometime this year, represents YouTube's latest push into AI tools for creators as the platform navigates the balance between innovation and quality control. "This year you'll be able to create a Short using your own likeness, produce games with a simple text prompt, and experiment with music," Mohan wrote, emphasizing that "AI will remain a tool for expression, not a replacement"2
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Source: TechCrunch
While YouTube hasn't shared specific details about how these AI likenesses will function, a YouTube spokesperson confirmed that "we'll have more to share soon, including the launch date and how the feature will work"
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. The new capability will join YouTube's existing suite of AI creation tools, including the ability to generate AI clips, AI stickers, AI auto-dubbing, and an AI chatbot for channel analytics1
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.Massive Scale and Growing AI Adoption
YouTube Shorts now averages 200 billion daily views, making it one of YouTube's most popular mediums
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. The platform's AI tools have seen significant adoption, with over 1 million channels using AI video-creation tools daily in December, while over 20 million viewers used YouTube's Ask features to pose questions to Google's AI models4
. These tools are powered by Google DeepMind's latest video-generation model, Veo 3 Fast5
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Source: Decrypt
The platform will also expand Shorts with new formats, including image posts, which are already popular on TikTok and Instagram Reels
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. Additionally, creators will soon be able to make AI-generated games with a single text prompt, a feature YouTube has been testing in closed beta using Gemini 34
.Protecting Creators with Likeness-Detection Technology
While YouTube enables creators to feature their own AI likeness in videos, the Google-owned platform recently launched technology to prevent unauthorized use. Last October, YouTube rolled out likeness-detection technology to eligible creators to identify AI-generated content featuring their face and voice
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. Creators can then request the removal of such content, providing protection against deepfakes and unauthorized AI-generated material4
. Mohan confirmed YouTube will equip creators with new tools to manage the use of their likeness in AI-generated content1
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Source: Bloomberg
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Battling AI Slop Becomes Top Priority
As YouTube expands generative AI features, combating low-quality AI content has emerged as a top priority for 2026. "It's becoming harder to detect what's real and what's AI-generated," Mohan wrote, noting this is "particularly critical when it comes to deepfakes"
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. The CEO acknowledged that "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"1
.Despite these challenges, YouTube maintains its commitment to openness within the creator ecosystem. "Over the past 20 years, we've learned not to impose any preconceived notions on the creator ecosystem," Mohan explained. "Today, once-odd trends like ASMR and watching other people play video games are mainstream hits"
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. However, he stressed that "with this openness comes a responsibility to maintain the high quality viewing experience that people want"3
. The platform labels all videos that include AI-generated elements made through its own tools, and creators are obligated to disclose when a video includes realistic altered footage4
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