YouTube Adds AI Likeness Feature Similar to OpenAI

Select Language:

YouTube unveiled its latest plan on Wednesday, enabling users this year to craft AI-powered versions of themselves for video content, similar to Sora, the video creation app from OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT.

“Our AI tools will be a significant advantage for creators eager to embrace new technology,” stated CEO Neal Mohan in a yearly letter emphasizing platform priorities for 2026.

The company views AI as the next groundbreaking shift in content creation, comparing it to past innovations like synthesizers and Photoshop. In December alone, over one million channels utilized YouTube’s AI creation features daily, according to the platform.

Mohan revealed that YouTube intends to greatly expand its AI offerings this year, including features that let creators produce video game content from simple text prompts. The possibility of generating short clips featuring users’ own likenesses would build on OpenAI’s Sora’s cameo feature, launched last year, which allows inserting one’s voice and image into AI-created videos.

Google and OpenAI are engaged in a fierce AI rivalry. Google is integrating generative AI into products like Gmail and Maps and promoting its Gemini chatbot, a direct competitor to ChatGPT.

Google noted in an email to AFP that more details about the new AI feature would be shared soon.

Mohan emphasized that “AI will serve as a tool for expression, not a replacement,” addressing concerns about the authenticity and quality of AI-generated content, as well as fears about the long-term impact on creative industries.

Creators will be required to disclose any synthetic or altered content and will be given tools to prevent unauthorized use of their likenesses in AI videos.

Additionally, YouTube is developing measures to combat low-quality automated content—often called “AI slop”—by enhancing existing anti-spam and clickbait detection systems.

For nearly three years, YouTube has been the leading streaming platform in the United States by watch time, based on Nielsen data. Its Shorts feature now garners an average of 200 billion views daily.