YouTube on its 20th anniversary is almost unrecognizable: from a modest site with amateur videos, it has transformed into a platform with 2.7 billion users, including stars like British singer Dua Lipa, who publishes professional content. Now YouTube is the main way for Americans to watch videos, and it is expected to surpass Disney in media revenue this year.
At the Made on YouTube presentation, the company's management—a subsidiary of Alphabet—showed its strategy for the coming decades: growth through AI. The platform presented new tools that will help creators create videos without the limitations of media studios, or completely automate the content creation process—an idea that Hollywood fought against during the 2023 strike.
CEO Neal Mohan emphasized that AI will not replace content creators, as working with video on YouTube is becoming a "respected and sustainable career path," and AI will only enhance the creative process in the next 20 years.
Supported by Google's resources and their expertise in AI, YouTube has strengthened its position over Disney. In July, it attracted 13.4% of U.S. viewers compared to 9.4% for Disney. MoffettNathanson analysts predict that YouTube's revenue this year will exceed the $60 billion that Disney earned from media last year.
The company revealed that it has paid out over $100 billion to creators in the last 4 years. Many have invested in studio spaces and professional equipment, creating more complex and higher quality videos. At the presentation, YouTube showed more than 30 new features, most of which use AI: automatic addition of shopping links, editing clips into a first draft, generating videos for podcasts, and converting speech into song.
