YouTube’s 2025 roadmap detailed the platform was making four big bets, focusing mainly on aspects that the streaming giant delivered on.
These included ensuring that YouTube remained the “epicenter of culture,” solidifying its position as ‘the new television,’ improving podcast monetization options with better discovery tools, and lastly, continuing to invest in AI tools.
Like clockwork, in his annual letter, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has made similar bets for 2026, and they offer a lot to look forward to.
YouTube offers something for everyone, be it someone using YouTube on a small mobile screen or the largest screen in their home. There are the classic long-form videos, but there’s also Shorts, music videos, livestreams, podcasts, and a lot more.
The former, Shorts, now averages 200 billion views per day. That’s equivalent to every single human on earth watching roughly 24 Shorts per day. And that number is only expected to go up with YouTube bringing more formats that will bleed right into the Shorts feed.
“This year we’ll bring even more variety to Shorts by integrating different formats – like image posts – directly into the feed, making it easier to stay connected with your favorite creators,” wrote Mohan.
Elsewhere, the streaming giant is also looking to build out YouTube TV, with it ready to launch an all-new, fully customizable multiview in the near future, complete with more than 10 new “specialized” YouTube TV plans.
More safety for kids and teens
This year, the tech giant aims to make YouTube a safer platform for kids and teens, and as of last week, it has already started doing so.
Last week, YouTube rolled out new parental controls that allow them to set a timer for their teen’s Shorts usage (including 0), and that’s going to be followed by a new intro UI that makes it easier for parents to set up new kid accounts and easily switch between accounts.
Credit:Â Google
Bringing more ways for creators to make money
In the past four years, YouTube has paid over $100 billion to creators, artists, and media companies for their success on the platform, supporting over 490,000 full-time jobs within the US alone.
In 2026, YouTube wants to continue investing in different ways for creators to earn, “from shopping and brand deals to fan funding features like Jewels and gifts.”
The streaming giant already lets users suggest products and add links to them via YouTube Shopping. Currently, though, links take users off YouTube. Soon, however, whenever a popular creator recommends a product, “you’ll be able to buy it without leaving the YouTube app.”
Betting on AI
All while reducing slop
Credit:Â YouTube
Following 2025, which can be described as the year of AI advancements for Google, 2026 will again lean into AI but as an additional tool, not a replacement.
The streaming giant highlighted how more than 1 million channels used its AI creation tools daily in December. This year, users will be able to “create a Short using your own likeness, produce games with a simple text prompt, and experiment with music.”
At the same time, YouTube also understands that low-quality AI slop is problematic content, and while the platform wants to remain neutral and open, it also wants to be a place where people feel good spending their time. That’s why it will start reducing the spread of AI slop by building on top of its existing spam and clickbait-combatting systems.
Elsewhere, expect to see a lot of new AI-powered features to make their way to the platform to join existing tools like autodub, the Ask tool, Veo 3 for Shorts, and many more.
