By Rajwa Quasim
Alphabet-owned YouTube unveiled a broad set of artificial intelligence tools, e-commerce features and personalization upgrades Wednesday at its annual Made on YouTube event in New York City. The new features are designed to make video creation easier for creators while helping viewers discover content based on their interests.
YouTube Studio will receive new tools that can give creators feedback on early video drafts, generate thumbnails that match the style of their channels and test up to three different versions of a video.
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The company also introduced “Ask Studio,” an AI-powered assistant designed to act as a creative partner for creators. It will provide summaries of a channel’s performance and viewer comments, helping video makers understand what is working and where they may need to make changes.
YouTube wrote in an announcement, “Our vision is for Ask Studio to become the ultimate creative partner for every Creator — a trusted companion that Creators turn to first. It’ll provide personalized and actionable strategic insights based on knowledge of you as a Creator, your channel, and how YouTube works.”
An AI-powered editing tool will be available across the YouTube Create app and Shorts. Creators will be able to use conversational prompts with the Gemini-powered assistant to edit videos, trim and rearrange clips and improve pacing. Manual editing will remain available for creators who want more control over the final product.
Earlier, YouTube faced scrutiny from its creator community after some creators complained that the platform was making subtle AI-powered changes to edited videos without their permission. The company responded that it would give creators greater control over the final output and allow them to opt out of video-enhancement features.
The media giant is also expanding its Shopping affiliate program to 35 countries by the end of the year. More than 1.3 million creators are already part of the program, the company said. Creators in countries including India and Brazil will soon be able to tag Amazon products in their videos.
YouTube said product tags will also show localized offers based on where viewers are watching, making the shopping experience more tailored to different markets.
For viewers, the company is introducing Custom Feeds, which will allow users in the U.S. to create separate homepage feeds based on specific interests. Users can create feeds for topics such as documentaries, DIY videos and other interests and save them for later use. The feature will be available across the web, mobile devices and TV, the company said.
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YouTube is also planning to expand “Ask YouTube” to handle shopping-related queries and follow-up questions. Users will be able to ask about products and receive organized recommendations, including comparison tables and voice-command options.
The new features reflect YouTube’s broader push to integrate generative AI across both the creator and viewer experience. The company says the tools will reduce the burden on creators, help them produce content more efficiently and give viewers more personalized ways to watch, discover and shop.