FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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Carlos Barria
Google’s AI dilemma: Google, an AI leader, is paradoxically curbing AI use in YouTube content. Despite pioneering AI, upcoming YouTube curbs will demand creators disclose AI-generated content, particularly synthetic media.
Why the restraint?
This move highlights Google’s complex struggle between AI innovation and maintaining content authenticity and trust on its platform. Video-sharing major YouTube, a Google’s arm, contends that the move is aimed at keeping tabs on AI Slop, or the flood of low-quality, repetitive, and unoriginal AI-generated content.
According to Arun Chandrasekaran, Distinguished VP, Analyst – Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Gartner, YouTube’s new monetisation guidelines represent a stance against low-quality, AI-generated content (called AI slop).
Beginning July 15, YouTube is imposing curbs on mass (AI) produced, repetitive and copied (videos made as reactions to original videos). Google’s Veo 3 is one of the most advanced AI-based video-generating engines.
“YouTube isn’t banning AI use outright; it now requires creators to contribute meaningful human input, such as commentary, editing, or creativity, to be eligible for monetisation,” Chandrasekaran points out.
“This is an effort to preserve content authenticity, safeguard advertiser trust, and reinforce that AI should augment human creativity. It is not an anti-AI policy but anti-AI Slop,” he said.
“It’s a nuanced point. It’s not like AI is not allowed. AI-only content is not going to be monetised; You can use AI but it can’t be the only component of the video,” Satyadev Chada Krishna, Founder of Infinitum Network Solutions, said.
“YouTube is not discouraging video content. They’re only saying that you can’t just be an AI-based content factory,” he said.
Infinitum operates 550 channels, besides being one of the 12 Multi-Channel Networks, working closely with YouTube in Asia, including in India.
Revenue angle
He felt that the rationale behind these restrictions is multifaceted, deeply rooted in the operational mechanics of the YouTube ecosystem.
“YouTube ecosystem works on fundamentally sharing revenue with partners, including about 3.5 million partners in India. A significant portion of money that comes in from brands that YouTube uses to advertise content on its platform will be shared with partners,” he said.
Once content making becomes an automated task rather than an effort, creators can upload even one lakh videos at the click of a button, significantly impacting the revenue streams.
Such scaling would be extremely expensive for YouTube to maintain branding. If advertising revenue has to be spread over, say one lakh more partners,” it would significantly decrease their share. The advertisement rates would go seriously below the current level. This, in turn, would remove incentive for somebody to create great content.
Nagaraju, who heads the YouTube channel 3TV Network, feels that the move would help those who work hard to provide original content.
Besides, the current algorithm, vital for the ecosystem’s functionality, “would completely become redundant if AI content pushes the algorithm to its limit,” Satyadev said.
It would be difficult for Google to ascertain who owns the copyright to the video generated by AI. The inability to “resolve these technical problems on copyrights and sharing revenue would hurt YouTube”. This might have led them to “keep it a little away from the system until the ecosystem is made much stronger”.
Published on July 13, 2025