What YouTube’s New AI Policy Means for Your Feed

Published: July 8, 2025

By Gavin Boyle

As the tools to create AI video content becomes more ubiquitous across the internet, YouTube takes a stand against its mass production by demonetizing videos and channels that exclusively produce these videos.

“In order to monetize as part of the YouTube Partner Program, YouTube has always required creators to upload ‘original’ and ‘authentic’ content. On July 15, 2025, Youtube is updating our guidelines to better identify mass-produced and repetitious content. This update better reflects what ‘inauthentic’ content looks like today,” the company wrote in a blog post.

In the past, this guideline has mainly applied to content that was stolen or ripped off from its original creator, however, YouTube is now extending it to apply to AI-generated content as well. This is an extremely positive change as up to 42% of all Shorts are now created with at least some help from AI. While many of these creators use the tool to enhance their original Shorts, there is still a sizable percentage who post lazy, unoriginal content using AI.

Rather than allow its website to become flooded with low-quality AI-generated videos, YouTube will disincentivize those doing so. At the same time, the company has placed an ever-growing emphasis on short-form content as its popularity on the site continues to grow.

In June, CEO Neal Mohan revealed that YouTube Shorts now receive 200 billion views every day, up 20% from the first quarter of 2024. Meanwhile 70% of all YouTube channels now release shorts to further engage their audiences.

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As for the future of AI on the website, Google is actually enabling its creators to use the technology by offering them access to its state-of-the-art AI-generation tools.

“We’re put this model into the hands of creators with Dream Screen. Last month, Google announced the newest model: Veo 3, which vastly improves video quality and incorporates audio,” Mohan said last month. “Today, I’m proud to share that Veo 3 will be coming to YouTube Shorts later this summer. I believe these tools will open new creative lanes for everyone to explore.”

Meanwhile, to further entice creators to expand onto Shorts, the company revealed Shorts will now receive the same ad-revenue split as long-form content videos.

“It’s something that we have been working on for a while and it’s a testament to both the viewer side, but also the quality of ad products that we build for our advertisers,” Mohan said in May.

As Shorts become an ever larger part of YouTube’s strategy, it makes sense why the company would want to protect the platform from a flood of AI-generated videos that would drown out high-quality, original content.

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