by Google
YouTube is entering a new era of artificial intelligence, with revamped tools and a greater focus on creators and community. In recent weeks, the platform has introduced a series of updates that make it easier to work with data, improve the user experience and also introduce measures aimed at safety and mental health.
From the intelligent Ask Studio that analyzes your channel's performance, to the new Shorts editor and AI questions in live broadcasts, all of the news has a common goal: to help creators create more efficiently, creatively and safely. Here's a look at the most exciting features that YouTube introduced in October 2025.
AI chatbot in Ask Studio
YouTube is testing Ask Studio, an AI chatbot integrated into YouTube Studio that helps creators analyze channel data, understand audience behavior, and find new video ideas. Creators can talk to it like an analyst and ask questions like which video has the best retention or what the community is talking about the most.
Ask Studio works exclusively with data from your channel, which allows it to provide accurate, personalized insights. In addition to analytics, it can generate ideas, captions, and video outlines, saving creators time and encouraging creativity.
YouTube describes it as an "AI creative companion" that combines analytics with real-time creative guidance. The feature is currently in testing, but will soon expand to more creators and could become an invaluable aid in content creation.
8 billion for the music industry
YouTube announced that it paid out $8 billion to the music industry between July 2024 and June 2025, confirming its position as one of the biggest players in digital music. This amount includes payments to labels, publishers and artists themselves, and shows that the combination of advertising and subscriptions can sustain the growth of the creator ecosystem in the long term.
For comparison, Spotify paid out $10 billion in 2024, so YouTube is quickly closing in on it, thanks in large part to the growth of YouTube Music and Premium, which already have more than 125 million subscribers.
In total, YouTube has paid out more than $100 billion to creators over the past four years, proving that the platform offers some of the most stable and transparent revenue opportunities for creators and musicians in the world.
Second Chance for Banned Creators
YouTube is launching a pilot program called Second Chance, which will allow creators with permanent bans to apply to return to the platform after a year. The goal is to offer a fair second chance to those who want to return to creating, while also protecting the community from repeat rule violations.
The program is not for everyone, and creators banned for copyright or creator responsibility violations are excluded. Each reinstatement request will be reviewed individually and approved creators will be able to create content again in accordance with our Community Guidelines.
YouTube is striking a balance between freedom of expression and user protection with this step, while creators who are re-banned will not get another chance.
AI and Q&A
YouTube is coming with several small but fun improvements. The biggest news is AI-generated questions for live Q&A, which help creators more easily engage with their audience during a stream. Artificial intelligence will automatically suggest questions based on the topic of the broadcast, but the creator still has full control over how they will look and which ones they will use.
In addition, YouTube is also introducing time limits for watching Shorts to help users better manage their time spent scrolling.
Tool to protect your identity
YouTube is working on a new Likeness Detection Tool to protect creators from identity theft and deepfake content. The feature will allow you to upload a photo of your face and an ID, which the platform will use as a reference to search for videos where your image appears without consent.
The system can then automatically identify videos that copy, imitate or use your face, and the creator can simply request their removal. Although the use of facial recognition technology raises privacy questions, it is an important step in an era of rapidly growing AI manipulations and deepfake videos.
The innovation is intended to give creators more control over their own identity and help YouTube maintain a safe and trustworthy environment for original content.
New design, comment threads, and voice responses
YouTube is rolling out a major update to improve user experience and interaction. The new interface design offers clearer controls, smoother gestures, and more intuitive video scrolling, especially for Shorts and TV viewing.
Video discussions are changing with multi-level comment threads that make it easier to follow entire conversations. Creators can now respond with voice replies within 30 seconds, which brings a more personal connection with the audience.
YouTube is also expanding courses for creators, where they can offer free or paid educational content, and introducing a “fixable violations” feature that will allow you to fix problematic parts of a video without having to delete it.
Help for teens with mental health
YouTube is launching a new initiative focused on teen mental health, which will display when searching for topics such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, or eating disorders recommended videos from experts and trusted organizations. The goal is to help young people find reliable, age-appropriate information right where they spend the most time.
The project is being supported by organizations such as The Jed Foundation, the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, and the Child Mind Institute, which have created a series of videos with experts, researchers, and influencers. They offer advice on how to recognize problems, how to talk about them and where to go for help.
The new feature is currently being rolled out in the US, Canada, Mexico, France, Australia and the UK and represents another step towards making YouTube not just a place for entertainment, but also a safe space to support the mental well-being of young people.
New Shorts editor and creative help from AI
YouTube has introduced an improved editor for Shorts, which splits a project into separate audio and video tracks, allowing creators to make more precise edits right in the app. All clips, effects, and sounds are now clearly displayed on a single timeline, so there's no need to switch between tools or use external apps.
The new editor resembles professional editing software and offers features like zooming, moving clips, and simple drag & drop editing that speed up creation. YouTube is also preparing other advanced tools, such as slip editing, splitting clips, and adding media directly from the timeline.
It's also testing a new feature "Extend with AI", which uses artificial intelligence to automatically extend or add new footage to a video. The goal is to make it easier for creators to work with content and give them more room for creativity and experimentation without the need for complex editing.
YouTube is clearly showing that the future of creation lies in the connection of technology, creativity and community. The new features bring more options, freedom and security, and whether you are a creator, musician or viewer, these changes will affect how you use YouTube every day.
Source: SocialMediaToday
