YouTube is rolling out a slew of new AI tools to its millions of creators — which the video platform is positioning as unlocking more creativity and fun.
Among the features: YouTube has started integrating Google DeepMind’s Veo 3 Fast generative AI model for video into YouTube Shorts, to let users create video backgrounds or clips with sound using text prompts — for free. In addition, YouTube will adding new Veo-powered capabilities to let creators apply motion, restyle videos and add props (or other objects) to scenes. And it has a new speech-to-song tool that can turn dialogue into a soundtrack for YouTube Shorts videos.
The video giant made the announcements at its 2025 Made on YouTube event Tuesday held at New York City’s Pier 57. It also released a new stat: YouTube says it has paid more than $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies in four-year period (January 2021 to December 2024).
To address concerns that viewers might be confused about what’s AI-generated and what isn’t, YouTube uses Google DeepMind’s SynthID watermarks and content labels to indicate that applicable videos were generated with AI.
In addition, YouTube is expanding is likeness-detection tool in YouTube Studio, suite of tools and analytics for creators, in an open beta to all YouTube Partner Program creators. This lets creators detect and manage videos made with AI using their facial likeness — and notify YouTube if someone is trying to misappropriate it. YouTube Studio has more than 30 million creators using it monthly, according to the platform.
With Veo 3, YouTube Shorts will let you generate videos with sound (at a video resolution of 480p) from a text prompt and with unlimited free use, according to the platform. Veo 3 in Shorts is currently rolling out in YouTube Shorts creation tools for creators in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
Soon, according to YouTube, Shorts users will be able to tap into other Veo-powered features including:
- Add motion: Bring photos to life by applying a motion from another video, like a “fun dance” or a “wild sports move.” Under the hood, this uses technology to capture and transfer movement from one subject to another.
- Stylize video: Transform videos with new styles like pop-art or origami, applying a totally different look to the footage with just a tap (pictured above).
- Add objects: Add an object like a character, prop or effect by typing in a text description. For example, per YouTube, you could “add a rubber ducky to your morning coffee, or a giant octopus coming to capsize a ship in the harbor.”
YouTube released an example of using Veo to add objects to video scenes:
Meanwhile, YouTube’s speech-to-song remixing tool will begin testing soon and will roll out to more creators in the U.S. in the coming weeks.
“Imagine hearing a line of dialogue that sparks an idea — a funny phrase, a memorable quote, or a one-of-a-kind sound — and you want to remix it into a new sound,” Dina Berrada, director of product for YouTube Shorts and generative AI creation, wrote in a blog post. “And you’re able to add your own vibe for the song, like, chill, danceable, or fun.” The speech-to-song feature uses the dialogue from the original video with Lyria 2, Google DeepMind’s AI music model, to help create the song. According to Berrada, the final resulting video attributes the original creator.
Another new feature is an AI-powered editing tool. According to YouTube, this will convert your raw footage into a “compelling first draft” by arranging the best moments from your footage into a coherent story with music, transitions and voiceover (available in English or Hindi). “This gives you a solid starting point so you can jump straight to the fun part: personalizing your video and bringing your unique vision to life,” said Berrada.
Other updates announced at Made on YouTube:
- YouTube Studio: New features include: Collaborations to help showcase partnerships (with the ability to add up to five collaborators to a single video); an AI-based conversational tool, Ask Studio, to provide insights into analytics and audience data; A/B testing for up to three titles; updates to the Inspiration Tab; and upgrades to auto-dubbing.
- Livestreaming: New features include: the option to combine live chats across horizontal and vertical stream formats; AI-powered highlights from live streams (automatically pulls portions of livestreams into Shorts for review); a “practice mode” on the mobile app before going live; side-by-side ads to minimize viewer disruption; and the ability to switch from public livestream to members-only livestream.
- Podcasts: New tools will help podcast creators create video clips and Shorts from full episodes; Veo can help generate a customizable video from audio files.
- YouTube Music: Creators will have a new option to count down to upcoming new releases and let fans pre-save favorites.
- Shopping: Updates to brand deals and YouTube Shopping designed to make collaborations easier; the ability to add a link to a brand’s site in Shorts; YouTube Shopping is expanding to more markets and merchants and getting an AI enhancement to make tagging easier.
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