Google-owned video platform YouTube paid over $70 billion to creators in the last three years, Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube said. “More than three million channels are in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which provides ways to earn money on YouTube, as the company paid over $70 billion to creators, artists, and media companies over the last three years,” wrote Mohan, in a blog post.
Now generative AI is driving another evolution that raises critical questions about how creators and people express creativity. “As we move forward, we’ll continue to embrace partnership. We’ll develop entirely new ways of empowering creative expression, managing rights, and driving revenue for our partner,” said Mohan, stressing on a key moment in history and sharing how YouTube is thinking about these changes, his vision for 2024, and four big bets they are making across YouTube.
YouTube recently announced new AI experiments that demonstrate its drive to innovate. Dream Screen is scaling creativity by giving anyone the ability to make AI-generated backgrounds for YouTube Shorts. Through the Music AI Incubator, YouTube is hearing feedback from artists about the ways AI can supercharge their creative process.
We’re leveling the playing field and developing AI tools that empower everyone, said Mohan. “The next generation of storytellers has the power to create in the palm of their hands. Shorts is an easy way for anyone to get started, and AI innovation will make it possible for even more people to create. I love seeing how people use Shorts to participate in cultural moments.”
Shorts is averaging over 70 billion daily views, and the number of channels uploading Shorts has grown 50 percent year over year.
“Creators are truly entrepreneurs, and we’re helping them diversify the ways they make money on YouTube. We’re investing in ways creators earn money while helping viewers shop for products. And viewers are directly supporting their favorite creators through fan funding features like channel memberships. The number of creators using memberships increased more than 50% last year, and creators are seeing the impact of fan funding,” added Mohan.