YouTube introduces new AI features as it celebrates 20 years
YouTube marks its 20th anniversary by introducing new AI tools designed to streamline content creation and expand features for its global user base.
Today, YouTube looks very different from the site that once featured basic, low-budget videos from enthusiasts. With the growing number of users (now around 2.7 billion), the platform is turning into a full-scale competitor to traditional media. But just as with other media, AI now plays a big role on YouTube.
At its annual "Made on YouTube" event, CEO Neal Mohan and other executives introduced a suite of AI tools designed to transform content creation. The updates include automatic editing, video generation from audio podcasts, converting speech into a song, inserting relevant shopping links directly inside a video, and more.
At the same time, Mohan emphasized that AI was and remains a tool, not a replacement for human creators. He also noted that as the technology advances, videos will continue to be shaped by people, pointing out that YouTube has paid creators more than $100 billion since its launch.
However, YouTube already bears the imprint of AI. Music is now often partly synthetic, audio and video are regularly enhanced by algorithms, and new tools allow creators to produce video elements in a fraction of the time once required.
According to estimates, YouTube has already overtaken Disney in viewership share in the U.S. In July 2025, the platform accounted for 13.4%, compared with Disney's 9.4%. In addition, YouTube has accelerated the rollout of creator tools, introducing three times as many new features this year as in 2024.
Although YouTube’s leadership maintains that human creators will remain central to the platform, the platform is becoming a space where both vloggers and professional studios must compete with a more efficient and cheaper neural network. Some analysts warn that the rise of AI-generated material could affect the overall quality of content on the platform.
