YouTube CEO Neal Mohan was called in his annual letter as one of the company’s four “Big Bets” for 2025. The executive pointed to the company’s investment in AI tools for creators, including video ideas, thumbnails and language translations. The latter feature will be rolled out to all creators of YouTube’s partner program this month, but another AI feature will identify users’ ages and customize appropriate content and recommendations.
Over the past year or so, YouTube has deployed a creator function to generate backgrounds for images and videos and add music to short videos.
Introducing AI into the video creation process is not without controversy. Some argue that AI-generated content dilutes YouTube values. However, this is not a universally held perspective. Because others suggest that AI is not a replacement for creativity, but a tool to help create videos.
Other AI tools can help creators reach new audiences. This includes autodubbing, which allows creators to translate videos into multiple languages with minimal effort.
In his letter, Mohan said that auto-dubbing functionality will be available to all creators of the YouTube Partner Program later this month.
The company also said it would invest in tools to detect and control how AI is used on YouTube. This includes extensions to the pilot program with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA). This gives AI-featured portraits access to technology that allows them to identify and manage generated content.
Last fall, YouTube unveiled a new set of AI detection tools that protect creators, including artists, actors, musicians and athletes. It says that YouTube’s existing content ID system extension, which identifies copyrighted material in videos, detects simulated faces or voices created with AI tools.
Mohan also noted in the letter that this year’s YouTube will deploy machine learning technology to estimate the age of users and provide age-appropriate experiences and recommendations. He did not reveal how technology determines age or what it can do if AI makes things wrong.
However, social media services such as Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok have already used age estimation and verification techniques for years.
Apart from AI, other big bets on YouTube in 2025 focused on YouTube as the epicenter of culture (position that can be argued that it was transferred to Tiktok). YouTubers as a new Hollywood. And it focuses on YouTube on TV.
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