YouTube unveils AI creator tools, shopping features at annual event

October 7, 2026 - 2:02 PM
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A teenager poses for a photo while holding a smartphone in front of a YouTube logo in this illustration taken September 11, 2025. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

Alphabet-owned YouTube unveiled a slate of artificial intelligence tools, shopping updates and personalized viewer features on Wednesday at its annual Made on YouTube event in New York City.

Here are some details:

  • The new creator tools include additions to YouTube Studio for feedback on video drafts, channel-matched thumbnails and testing up to three video cuts.
  • A Gemini-powered assistant in Shorts and YouTube Create will also help edit clips, trim pauses and sync music.
  • The video platform is testing opt-in AI comment moderation that adapts to creators’ preferences. It will also combine voice and facial detection in its likeness-protection tools.
  • The company will expand its YouTube Shopping affiliate program to 35 countries by year-end, with more than 1.3 million creators already enrolled.
  • Creators in India and Brazil will soon be able to tag Amazon products, while product tags will show localized offers to viewers in different markets.
  • YouTube will introduce Custom Feeds for U.S. users on web, mobile and TV, allowing them to save homepage tabs tailored to interests such as documentaries or DIY videos.
  • Its Ask YouTube feature will add shopping queries and follow-up questions, including product-comparison tables and voice commands for TV users.

— Reporting by Prathik Jayaprakash in Bengaluru and Kenrick Cai in San Francisco; Editing by Tasim Zahid