YouTube unveiled more than 15 new features for viewers and creators at its Made On YouTube event, many of them powered by AI. They’ll roll out in stages, with the first arriving in October and others not until 2027.
Search and recommendations
YouTube is adding Ask YouTube, an AI assistant, to search. It understands plain-language queries — longer and more detailed than regular search can handle — and returns a mix of short and long-form videos. You’ll also be able to ask it questions directly on a video’s page. The assistant can help map out a step-by-step travel plan, pick up a new skill or put together a series of recommendations on a topic. For shopping, Ask YouTube will be able to build product comparison tables across different attributes and categories.
Viewers who aren’t happy with the recommendation algorithm will be able to build their own feed. All it takes is describing the topics they want in the search bar. You can create several feeds for different topics or purposes — say, video podcasts to watch on a trip or videos to match a certain mood. Each one is pinned as its own tab at the top of the home page.
Like Ask YouTube, custom feeds run on Google’s Gemini model, so requests can include details, constraints and content priorities. They won’t replace YouTube’s main recommendations, and switching between them will be easy. Support for multiple custom feeds starts rolling out in October.
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YouTube Music is getting similar features. Ask Music lets listeners request music by description instead of searching for specific songs or artists. They can use it to build a listening queue, explore an artist’s work or dig into music history. Podcast fans will get Your Podcast Lineup, a short weekly audio rundown of recommended podcasts that explains why each might be worth a listen. From there, listeners can jump straight in.
Creators’ channels will also get series made of short videos. Viewers can watch these collections as one continuous story rather than skipping from clip to clip. The feature is meant to help YouTube compete with TikTok and other services built specifically for short-form video.
Communities and messaging
YouTube is also launching paid, members-only communities where people can post and start discussions. A new dedicated page will help users find communities that match their interests.
Hype, the feature fans use to recommend lesser-known creators and push them up the rankings, is getting a paid tier too. Until now it was free but limited to three hypes a week. Hype with Jewels will let fans buy Jewels to hype videos more often, and their usernames will appear in the video description.
Creators are also getting new moderation tools. Comment moderation, for example, can be tuned to fit a channel’s community, and livestreams will get more settings. YouTube calls this part of the update experimental for now and hasn’t shared details or a launch date.
Comments are getting GIF support, and posting them from a TV will be easier. In early September, YouTube paired TVs and phones through a shared account, so controlling playback no longer requires both devices to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
Group chats are coming to direct messages over the next few months. Users will also be able to record quick, unedited videos and share them in those conversations.
Tools for creators
For creators, YouTube is preparing conversational editing powered by AI. The chat assistant will be able to pick the best takes, add music, transitions and text overlays, cut pauses in speech, and offer suggestions based on the conversation. Every change it makes shows up on the timeline, where it can be reviewed, tweaked or undone. YouTube expects this to cut the time and effort editing takes. Conversational editing arrives in YouTube Shorts and YouTube Create in early 2027.
Another assistant, Ask Studio, lets creators show a video draft to AI and get personalized feedback based on their past uploads and viewer comments. It will also suggest alternative titles and thumbnails, analyze channel stats and offer tips for improving performance.
Creators can already A/B test titles and thumbnails, comparing how different versions perform with viewers. Starting in 2027, they’ll be able to upload and test three different versions of a short video the same way. There’s also a dynamic thumbnails feature: creators upload several options, and YouTube picks the one that draws the most viewer interest.
Livestreams are getting new options as well. In early 2027, YouTube will begin testing automatic real-time dubbing for live streams. Live Showdown will let creators co-host streams with others, while Live Creator Matchmaking will help them team up with creators who are already live.
To help creators make money, AI will automatically tag products in videos, making it easier to earn through affiliate programs. YouTube is also expanding its Amazon program beyond the US.
