Google-owned video-sharing platform YouTube is trying to crack down on the spread of low-quality artificial intelligence-generated content by clarifying what videos are eligible for monetization solutions.
The new policy went into effect last week and applies to all creators who join the YouTube Partner Program, which allows creators to earn a cut of advertising and subscription revenue from the platform.
YouTube previously banned content it deemed inauthentic, such as mass-produced or repetitive videos. The latest revision does not have blanket restrictions on AI-generated material, but it does have more detailed rules regarding the types of videos that may make a channel ineligible for monetization.
Matt Halprin, head of trust and safety at YouTube, said the company is trying to differentiate between creators who use AI to improve their original work and operators who use automated tools to produce a large number of similar videos, primarily for ad revenue.
“AI will actually allow people to create more videos,” Halprin said in a video published through YouTube’s Creator Insider channel. “Sometimes these videos are great and really boost your creativity.”
The first category is for generic, repetitive, or template-based videos that rarely change meaningfully between uploads. This may include content created using AI, computer-generated images, and reusable templates. A tutorial may also fall under this policy if it closely reproduces material that is already widely available, without adding any original analysis or instructions.
The second category focuses on content that YouTube deems offensive or intentionally distressing. Examples include emotionally manipulative videos designed to generate views, such as staged or exploitative videos in which animals are exposed to danger followed by apparent rescues.
Halprin said that regardless of whether AI was used to create the video, channels built around such material could lose monetization.
The third category concerns AI-generated personas that discuss sensitive subjects such as medical, financial, and legal issues. YouTube said it does not want a revenue-sharing program that encourages creators to use synthetic representations of real people to provide potentially misleading guidance in areas where inaccurate information could cause harm.
Channels that contain too much content in any of the three categories may be removed from the YouTube Partner Program.
The change comes as YouTube competes with TV networks and streaming platforms for ad dollars. As viewing shifts to connected TV and advertisers increasingly monitor brand safety, protecting the quality of the programming environment becomes increasingly important.
