YouTube's 2025 Roadmap: AI-Powered Features and Platform Enhancements

YouTube teases top features for 2025 - brought to you by AI

As the video platform turns 20, creating content and expanding reach is about to get easier with more than a little help from AI. Here's what's coming. Despite the rise and fall of video platforms such as TikTok, Vine, and Musical.ly, YouTube has remained a top player in video streaming over the years. A key to that success has been constant updates to the platform, which make it easier for creators to produce and share videos and for audiences to enjoy them. Now, YouTube is sharing a road map for even more features. On Tuesday, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, in a blog post celebrating the platform's 20-year anniversary, highlighted major wins, identified several trends, and described what to expect from the platform in 2025 -- which unsurprisingly includes more AI. AI-powered features have been integral to the platform, powering video recommendations, caption production, and harmful content flagging. Last year, the company introduced additional AI features such as Dream Screen, soon getting Google's Veo 2 to improve how users generate images and video backgrounds for Shorts, and Dream Track, which allows users to create soundtracks for Shorts from a text prompt. Now, the company is turning its attention to incorporating AI for more practical, everyday applications. For example, Mohan shared that YouTube is investing in tools to help creators generate video ideas, titles, and thumbnails and optimize everyday workflows. YouTube will also expand its auto dubbing feature -- which uses AI to help creators translate their videos into multiple languages -- to all creators in the YouTube Partner Program. Also: Forget Sora: Adobe launches 'commercially safe' AI video generator. How to try it The platform is developing new tools to help creatives detect and control how AI depicts them on YouTube. In a pilot program, "some of the world's most influential figures" will get access to this early-stage technology. YouTube will use their feedback to refine the controls and build out the detection systems. AI will also be used to improve protections for younger viewers. Plans include using machine learning to help estimate a user's age and distinguishing younger viewers from adults to better cater content, experiences, and protections. Here's a twist: According to Mohan, TV has surpassed mobile to become the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US by watch time. To better cater to these users, YouTube is improving its TV-watching options, starting with a second-screen experience that enables users to interact with the video they are watching on TV using their phones. YouTube is also experimenting with a Watch With feature that lets creators provide real-time commentary to events, such as games. Last year, the feature was available only for NFL games, but YouTube said it will continue to experiment with other sports and types of content. Podcasts are also having a moment on the platform, with YouTube becoming the most frequently used service for listening to podcasts in the US, according to Mahone. To further investment in podcasts, YouTube shared it will roll out more tools to support podcasters with improved monetization opportunities and audience discovery. YouTube has enabled many creators to make lucrative businesses based on the platform via leveraging ads, YouTube Premium, and shopping recommendations. To continue to bolster the creator economy, YouTube shared it will continue to support traditional revenue streams while introducing new ways for creators to partner with brands. Also: My 9 must-have gadgets for creating quality YouTube videos YouTube is also working on new ways for fans to engage with creators. For example, it is expanding its Hype feature that allows fans to go beyond liking and commenting on a video. By hyping a video that's been out less than seven days from a creator with under 500,000 subscribers, it climbs on hyped video leaderboards, giving creators an indicator of what content is really aligning with viewers, and top hyped accounts also get a special badge.

YouTube's 2025 roadmap has four big bets, and only one focuses on AI

Summary YouTube has made four 'Big Bets' for 2025. The platform aims to remain the 'epicenter of culture,' solidify its position as 'the new television,' enhance AI-powered tools for a better user experience, and more. YouTube plans to improve podcast monetization, introduce better discovery tools, and expand revenue options for creators, including ads, memberships, and shopping recommendations. The company will expand AI-driven tools like auto-dubbing, introduce machine learning for age estimation to enhance child safety, and refine TV-based viewing experiences with interactive second-screen features. 2025 marks YouTube's 20th year in existence, and the streaming giant is already looking to dominate the next 20. In a new blog post, the platform's CEO Neal Mohan laid down four 'big bets' for 2025, essentially outlining what creators and viewers can expect from the platform. These include ensuring that YouTube remains the "epicenter of culture," supporting YouTubers in becoming "the startups of Hollywood," solidifying the streaming platform's position as "the new television," and using AI to make YouTube a better platform for everyone. Related YouTube expands access to Communities to foster meaningful fan engagement Opening the doors, but not completely Posts According to the tech giant, quoting an Edison Research report, YouTube is now the most frequently used service for listening to podcasts in the US. Mohan says that the platform will continue providing an avenue for free speech and creative expression. Mohan highlighted the lead up to the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, quoting Joe Rogan's podcast episode with Donald Trump as a major example of the platform's draw. The episode gained 55 million+ views, while similar content on just the election day garnered over 45 million unique viewers. In 2025, YouTube plans to improve the podcast monetization model, add more tools for podcast creators, and make it easier for creators to be discovered. Speaking of monetization, the streaming giant highlighted that it is committed to helping creators "with tools and features that power their businesses and communities," with continued support via "traditional revenue streams like ads and YouTube Premium." Mohan highlighted other avenues on YouTubers are making a living on the platform, including shopping recommendations and channel memberships. Machine learning to make the platform safer for everyone Source: YouTube YouTube also intends to continue investing in AI tools, adding to a suite of creator-focused features like its GenAI content inspiration tool, Dream Screen, Dream Track, and auto-dubbing. The streaming giant pointed out the success it has seen with the auto-dubbing tool, saying that "for videos with dubbed audio, more than 40% of the total watch time comes from viewers choosing to listen in a dubbed language." In 2025, YouTube aims to roll out the feature to all creators in its Partner Program, alongside expanding support to more languages. Elsewhere, it appears that the streaming giant is finally ready to tackle one of the platform's most significant problems -- its inability to protect young users. In 2025, YouTube aims to use Machine Learning (ML) to estimate users' age, allowing it to tailor the user experience accordingly and provide "the best and most age appropriate experiences and protections." YouTube didn't highlight how exactly the new measures will work, but at least they're a step in the right direction. Fun fact: TVs are now the primary viewing device for YouTube users in the US, with over 1 billion hours of YouTube content consumed on just TVs daily. "We'll continue to improve fan-favorite YouTube TV features, like Key Plays and multiview," wrote the streaming giant, all while highlighting new experimental features like a second screen experience that allows users to interact with a video on their TV directly with their phone and Watch With, which allows creators to provide live commentary on events.

YouTube AI updates to include expansion of auto dubbing, age-identifying tech and more | TechCrunch

In his annual letter, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan dubbed AI as one of the company's four "big bets" for 2025, pointing to the company's investments in AI tools for creators, like those that help them come up with video ideas, thumbnails, or those that help translate their content into other languages. The latter feature will roll out to all creators in YouTube's Partner Program this month, YouTube said, while another AI feature will soon work to identify users' ages to serve them age-appropriate content and recommendations. AI has increasingly become a part of YouTube creators' toolkit. Over the past year or so, YouTube has rolled out creator features to generate images and video backgrounds, or add music to short videos. The addition of AI into the video creation process itself has not been without controversy, though, as some argue that AI-created content will dilute the value of YouTube, as poorly-made AI content fills up the site. (This isn't a universally held point of view, as others believe AI will be a tool to aid video production, not a replacement for creativity.) Other AI tools help creators reach new audiences, like an auto dubbing feature that will allow creators to translate their videos into multiple language with minimal effort. In his letter, Mohan says that it will make the auto dubbing feature available to all creators in the YouTube Partner Program later this month. The company also said it will be investing in tools to detect and control how AI is used on YouTube. This will include an expansion of its pilot program with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) that will give more people access to tech that can identify and manage the AI-generated content that features their likeness. YouTube last fall had announced a new set of AI detection tools that would protect creators, including artists, actors, musicians and athletes, from having their likeness -- such as their face and voice -- copied and used in other videos. An expansion of YouTube's existing Content ID system, which identified copyright-protected material in videos, the new system will detect simulated faces or voices that were made with AI tools, it said. Mohan also noted in the letter that YouTube this year will deploy machine-learning technology to estimate users' ages to assist with showing them age-appropriate experiences and recommendations. He did not reveal how the tech would determine ages or what could be done if the AI got things wrong. Outside of AI, YouTube's other big bets for 2025 included a focus on YouTube as the epicenter of culture (a position one could argue has been ceded to TikTok); YouTubers as the new Hollywood; and an emphasis on YouTube on the big screen, as the TV has now surpassed mobile as the primary viewing device for YouTube in the U.S.