YouTube is preparing for a significant change in its content policy, attempting to strike a balance between the accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence and the fight against low-quality content known as “AI slop.” In an official letter published by the company’s CEO, Neal Mohan, detailing the work plans for 2026, he stated that YouTube will continue to embrace what he calls “the new frontier of creation.” As part of this, it will soon allow creators to produce Shorts videos based on their digital likeness created using artificial intelligence.
Although Mohan did not go into depth about how the new tool will operate upon launch, he did address the critical issue of “deepfake” videos flooding the internet. The CEO emphasized that the company supports new legislation, such as the NO FAKES Act, which is intended to protect individual rights in the digital age. At the same time, YouTube already operates detection tools that allow creators to protect themselves from unauthorized use of their likeness, by scanning new videos uploaded to the site and identifying visual matches.
Alongside the ability to generate short videos, YouTube is developing additional AI-based tools, including the Playables platform, which is currently in beta stages. This system allows users to create games using the Gemini 3 model based solely on a textual prompt, without the need to write code. In addition, the company introduced new tools for music creation and upgrades to automatic dubbing systems. According to company data, last December about six million users watched more than 10 minutes per day of content dubbed by artificial intelligence, despite the difficulties experienced by competing companies with similar technology.
Despite the massive shift toward the use of artificial intelligence, YouTube promises to continue investing in systems designed to combat spam, clickbait headlines, and low-quality AI content. Mohan did not specify an exact target date for the launch of the dubbing tools and digital characters in Shorts, but for users who prefer to avoid such content altogether, the company recently implemented a new option that allows Shorts videos to be completely removed from search results.