YouTube Shorts has achieved a milestone of trillions of views in under four years, shared YouTube CEO, Neal Mohan, at YouTube’s flagship Brandcast event in New Delhi. Mohan highlighted that creators in India are doing more than just sharing stories – “they’re exporting Indian culture to the world. More than 11 thousand Indian channels have over a million subscribers. That’s a 50% increase year over year!”
“Indian creators are making videos inspired by local trends that go on to define global culture. YouTube is number one in reach and watchtime in India. And we just passed a huge milestone,” said Mohan.
YouTube is the most streamed service on Connected TVs in India with viewership growing 4x in the last 3 years, the Google-owned platform claimed.
“This phenomenal growth is just one reason I’m excited about what’s coming next at YouTube,” Mohan said, adding, “Everything from creation to fandom is about to get even bigger.”
“In the past year you’ve heard a lot about generative AI. At first, it was mostly just a concept. And today, I’m here to tell you the future has arrived. We’ve launched AI tools that empower human creativity,” said Mohan, highlighting the roll out of Dream Screen in India in July. Dream Screen lets users create AI-generated backgrounds for Shorts just by typing an idea.
“This is just the beginning,” said Mohan, hinting at more. “We’ll continue to develop AI technology that builds on our track record of responsibility and pushes the boundaries of creative expression at a scale we can only dream about right now.”
Mohan added, “My childhood showed me that no matter where you live, no matter what country you call home… everyone has a story. YouTube gives creators a home to share their stories with the world. And they’re creating connections with fans that span continents and cross oceans.”
Content Moderation
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Mohan also addressed content moderation on YouTube. He said, YouTube as a platform, has always been a pioneer in moderating its content and maintaining hygiene as far as authenticity is concerned.
YouTube said that it had taken down over 9 million videos in the December 2023 quarter, of which over 8 million were in violation.
“We’re an open platform, a platform where there are all kinds of opinions, all types of speech on our platform. That doesn’t mean anything goes. We’ve always had community guidelines, and it’s our job, our responsibility at YouTube, to make sure that our community guidelines stay up to date,” Mohan said.
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