YouTube CEO Neal Mohan on how creators and AI will shape YouTube in 2026

New Delhi: YouTube has set out its priorities for 2026, signalling deeper investment in creator-led entertainment, artificial intelligence tools and safeguards, and expanded television-style viewing, as the platform responds to changing audience behaviour and creator economics.

In a note titled From the CEO: What’s coming to YouTube in 2026, Neal Mohan said the boundaries between creativity and technology are increasingly blurred, pushing the company towards “ambitious bets” as it enters what he described as a new phase for the creative industry.

Positioning creators at the centre of this shift, Mohan said YouTube creators are increasingly functioning as studios and media companies in their own right. “When creators hold the keys to their own production and distribution, the only limit is their imagination,” he said. He pointed to creators producing studio-scale shows and experimenting with new formats built specifically for digital-first audiences, arguing that the era of dismissing creator content as user-generated is over.

YouTube also plans to further integrate multiple formats across screens, from long-form video and live streams to podcasts and Shorts. The company said Shorts now average 200 billion daily views, with plans to introduce additional formats, including image posts, directly into the Shorts feed. Music discovery and storytelling around artists and releases will also receive further attention.

The company highlighted its growing presence in the living room, noting that YouTube has ranked first in US streaming watchtime for nearly three years, according to Nielsen. Mohan said new features for YouTube TV will include fully customisable multiview options and more than 10 specialised subscription plans across sports, entertainment and news.

For younger audiences, YouTube said it will expand tools for families, including simpler account set-up and easier switching between supervised and child accounts. New parental controls will allow limits on Shorts scrolling time, including the option to set usage to zero. Mohan said the approach is intended to support exploration while giving parents greater control.

On creator monetisation, YouTube said it has paid more than $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies over the past four years. Mohan said the platform will continue to expand revenue options through shopping, brand partnerships and fan funding tools. “For every idea a creator dreams up, we provide the business model to match,” he said. New features will allow viewers to purchase recommended products without leaving the app and enable creators to better manage branded content in Shorts and back catalogues.

Artificial intelligence will play a larger role across creation, discovery and accessibility, according to the company. Mohan said more than one million channels used YouTube’s AI creation tools daily in December. Planned updates include tools that allow creators to use their own likeness, experiment with music and develop games using text prompts.

At the same time, YouTube said it is strengthening transparency and protections around synthetic media. Content created using YouTube’s AI tools will continue to be labelled, with creators required to disclose realistic altered or synthetic content. Harmful deepfakes that breach community guidelines will be removed, and new tools linked to Content ID will help creators manage the use of their likeness in AI-generated material.

Addressing concerns around low-quality AI-generated content, Mohan said the platform is extending systems already used to counter spam and clickbait to reduce repetitive or low-value material, while maintaining openness to new formats and trends.

AI is also being positioned as a way to enhance viewer understanding and accessibility. In December, more than 20 million users used YouTube’s AI-powered “Ask” feature to learn more about videos, while over six million daily viewers watched at least ten minutes of auto-dubbed content.

Mohan concluded by framing YouTube’s long-term bet on emerging creators. “The most important creator on YouTube in five or ten years is someone you’ve never heard of and that person is starting their channel today,” he said.