Mrbeast removes AI YouTube thumbnail tool after repulsion

Riya Collins

BBC News Beat

Mrbeast says he designed a tool to help small creators but “missed the mark”

Getty Images Mrbeast was photographed in New York in May 2025. The creator has blue eyes, short brown hair and short whiskers. He smiles and wears a dark blue blazer over a white t-shirt, posing for the photographer in front of a black hoarding. — Mrbeast says he designed a tool to help small creators but “missed the mark”

Mrbeast has removed the YouTube thumbnail generator using artificial intelligence (AI) after a backlash from creators.

The world's most registered YouTuber, real name Jimmy Donaldson, released the tool last week, saying his intention was “to help small creators create better thumbnails.”

However, he admitted that he “missed the mark” after being criticized by other well-known YouTubers, including Point Crow and Jack Sepchay, who said the tool “steals” the creator's work.

In an X's post, Mrbeast said he decided to remove the tool from the YouTube Analytics platform ViewStats, replacing it with a link to human artists that can be used by the committee.

When he launched the AI thumbnail tool last week, MrBeast said, “I thought people would be pretty excited about it.”

Small preview photos are an important part of YouTuber's strategy and are used to catch your eye when scrolling through the sea of content.

Mr. Beast's tool was touted as “getting rid of speculation” to design eye-catching images with a subscription of $80 (£58) per month.

Users provided the option to insert themselves into existing thumbnails and recreate the work of other creators.

Such generation AI- or Genai- or genai is trained on a mountain of existing data and is used to create output according to user prompts.

There are several current courts examining copyright theft accusations against companies that create AI models.

Point Crow, whose real name is Eric Morino, accused Mrbeast of creating “something that can steal hard work without thinking…”, claiming that the AI model is “clearly trained in every thumbnail and uses them without the author's permission.”

US streamers say the intention to make content creation more accessible is “a great idea,” but the tool “funny hurts the entire creator.”

Inspired by Netflix's hit squid game, Beast Games won a huge prize with winner Jeffrey Randall Allen

Getty Images Beast Games winner Jeffrey Randall Allen filmed with Mrbeast at a series screening in LA. With short gray hair and a pale blue shirt underneath a grey jumper, Jeffrey leaned over Mrbeast, with a briefcase full of cash. Mrbeast wears a red baseball cap and a white T-shirt. The pair are characterized by a helicopter flying off from a huge explosion against the blue sky, smiling as depicted in front of the series' ads. — Inspired by Netflix's hit squid game, Beast Games won a huge prize with winner Jeffrey Randall Allen

Mrbeast admitted his feedback and told his followers:

“It's obviously a big YouTuber in the world and I don't underestimate that responsibility, so when people in the community do things that are upsetting, it makes them deeply sad.”

He said his goal with Beustat is to build tools to help creators, but “if creators don't want the tools, don't worry.”

US YouTubers are considered to be the highest-paid creators with over 385 million subscribers on their site.

He has many other business ventures and last year he hosted the Beast Game. In the Amazon Series, 1,000 people participated in a series of elimination challenges with a prize of $5 million (£3.9 million).

The series was named in the lawsuit, with some contestants claiming it was “abused” during filming — he said it was “disproportionately blown away.”

In May, the Mexican government accused him of “exploiting” the Mayan pyramid for a video that fans had to apologise after having had a “terrifying” experience at a Las Vegas event in his name.