Google launched Google Video in 2005 because it thought it would be a major addition to the search business early on in its video. We focused on dealing with the entertainment industry with two-rate content and became overly cautious about what users could upload. Meanwhile, a small startup run by a small number of employees working on top of San Mateo, California, exploded with simply allowing anyone to upload goofy videos and not worry too much about anyone who holds copyright to the clips. In 2006, Google took a photo of the company a year ago and thought it would later sort out IP stuff. (That was right.) YouTube's $1.65 billion purchase price was about $1 billion more than valuation, but it was one of the biggest bargains to date. YouTube is perhaps the most successful video property in the world. It is an industry leader in music and podcasting, with over half of your viewing time being on the living room screen. Since 2021, we have paid creators over $100 billion. One estimate from Moffettnathanson analyst cited by Variety is that if it were another company it could be worth $550 billion.
Now, the service is taking on its greatest leap, embracing a new paradigm that could change its essence. Of course, I'm talking about AI. As YouTube is still a wholly owned subsidiary of AI-Obsessed Google, it's no surprise that this week's memorabilia product announcement promoted AI features. After all, Google Deepmind's VEO 3 technology was YouTube technology. Ready or not, the video camera will eventually be replaced by a prompt. This means authenticity, a rethinking of YouTube's superpowers.
YouTube Big Bang
When I recently interviewed YouTube CEO Neal Mohan in his office at his headquarters in San Bruno, California, I had that change in mind. Mohan took over as CEO in 2023 when her boss Susan Wassicki left her post due to a fatal cancer. But first we'll have a bit of chat about the history of the company. Mohan reminds me that his own relationship with the service began before joining Google in 2008 after advertising company Doubleclick merged with the search giant. He was impressed that the YouTube founder was first revealed to him. “It wasn't just something that people were interested in sharing short clips about themselves and was done without a gatekeeper,” he says.
Critics of Google's power often argue that not only the public, but YouTube itself, may benefit from the split from his mother's company. Think about what you can do if the world's largest video company is truly independent. Mohan, a self-promoted Google Loyalist, disagrees. “If YouTube is not part of Google, I don't think it's where it is,” he says. He says that being part of a huge company allowed YouTube to place long-term bets on streaming and podcasting. When asked if YouTube is even more innovative in its own right, he reminds me that YouTube is innovative enough to challenge legacy media in something like live sports, and dodges challenges from competitors focused on the creator economy.
YouTube has the broad advantage that Tiktok and Reels can't dream of.
Currently, there is another advantage: Google's AI technology. This week's announcement spans fun features such as putting your or your friends' bodies in a video showing amazing acrobatic feats, allowing Podcasters to create instant TV shows from audio conversations by creating visuals that resonate with the chatter content. Mohan says, in a way, AI is just the latest enhancement to its services. “When YouTube was born 20 years ago, it was about using technology to make more people hear their voices,” he says. “In AI, that's the same core principle. How do we use technology to democratize creation?”
