YouTube has announced a range of updates across its platform at Made on YouTube 2026. According to YouTube Live viewer data, more than 600 million logged-in viewers watched live content each day on average in August 2026, including archived live content.
YouTube Live expands reactions and co-streaming
The platform is expanding Watch With beyond livestreams to include all eligible long-form videos across YouTube. The feature was previously piloted for major broadcasts, while live reactions between creators’ livestreams began testing earlier this year.
Creators will be able to tap “React live” on an eligible long-form video or livestream. The original and reacting creators will have separate revenue, attribution and control arrangements:
- Reacting creators keep the live ad revenue and fan funding they earn.
- Original creators receive clear attribution and added view credit in YouTube Studio.
- Original creators can control which of their videos can be reacted to.
The platform is also adding live creator matchmaking to Go Live Together. Previously, creators could invite an offline guest through a link. The new system provides two ways to find co-hosts:
- Browse: Select creators who are currently streaming.
- Quick-match: Let the platform automatically pair the creator with similar creators they may not already know.
Once connected in a co-hosted stream, creators can use Live Showdown, which turns fan funding into a team challenge. Co-hosts can start head-to-head matchups, while viewers can send chats, gifts and Super Chats to increase their chosen creator’s score on-screen in real time.
The company said more than 40% of live watch time comes from viewers outside a creator’s home country. It is also introducing Live auto dubbing, which automatically translates a creator’s speech in real time so viewers can listen in their preferred language.
YouTube Music adds AI-powered discovery tools
The company said users discovered an artist new to them more than 450 million times in July 2026. It is expanding discovery features in the YouTube Music app with updates to Ask Music and a new podcast experience.
Ask Music works across podcasts and a catalog of more than 300 million songs, including:
- Official studio recordings
- Remixes
- Live performances
- Covers
- DJ sets
The updated Ask Music experience also lets users customize their queue and explore more information about artists.
The company is introducing “your podcast lineup,” a personalized AI-audio guide in the YouTube Music app. It provides a weekly spoken preview of recommended shows, explains why they are being recommended, and then takes users to suggested episodes.
YouTube Studio adds research, feedback and thumbnail tools
YouTube Studio is adding tools across web and mobile for different stages of video creation. New Insights and Research destinations will help creators examine previous video performance and discover outlier videos.
A new Studio feedback feature will provide personalized suggestions for video drafts, including:
- Pacing
- Structure
- Storytelling
- Other aspects of the draft
Creators will also be able to generate channel-matched thumbnails. With dynamic thumbnails, the platform can recommend the best of three thumbnail options to different audience segments.
The company said creators have run more than 40 million A/B testing experiments on titles and thumbnails since the feature officially launched in 2024. A new video A/B testing feature will allow creators to test up to three video cuts to determine which opening hook performs best.
Meanwhile, Ask Studio will be able to run in the background, review older videos, and suggest and test refreshed thumbnails.
Gemini adds conversational video editing
The company previously brought Gemini Omni to Shorts and the YouTube Create app. In August 2026 alone, hundreds of thousands of channels used it per day.
The first GenAI trends report found that 72% of U.S. video posters aged 14–44 had used AI to help create or edit videos during the previous year.
The new conversational editing assistant integrates Gemini into Shorts and the YouTube Create app. Creators can use suggested prompts or their own prompts to create a first draft, then continue chatting with the assistant while making changes.
The editing assistant can suggest changes such as:
- Reordering frames
- Trimming clips
- Syncing music to the beat
- Other edits based on the conversation
Creators can switch between the conversational assistant and manual timeline editing while refining a video.
YouTube expands comment and likeness protections
The platform is testing opt-in AI-powered comment moderation. When enabled, the system learns a creator’s moderation style and needs over time.
The company is also expanding tools for detecting unauthorized use of creators’ likenesses and voices. It says billions of channels are eligible to sign up for automated deepfake detection.
The protection tools include:
- Automated deepfake detection: Eligible creators can sign up to detect deepfake content.
- Likeness detection: Creators can control their visual likeness through the likeness detection tool.
- Speaking voice detection: The platform will combine speaking voice detection with facial detection to improve overall match accuracy and provide a foundation for broader voice protections.
- YouTube mobile app: Likeness detection will be accessible directly in the mobile app, allowing creators to set up, review and act on the feature.
Availability
The new features will roll out at different times:
- Watch With for eligible long-form videos: Later in 2026
- Live creator matchmaking: Early 2027
- Live Showdown: 2027
- Live auto dubbing: Pilot begins early 2027
- Ask Music updates and “your podcast lineup”: Coming soon to YouTube Music and Premium subscribers worldwide
- Video A/B testing for up to three cuts: Coming soon
- Speaking voice detection with facial detection: Later in 2026
- Likeness detection in the YouTube mobile app: Later in 2026