YouTube announced on May 27, 2026 that its internal systems will automatically apply labels when significant photorealistic AI is detected in videos, moving beyond creator self-disclosure. AI labels will appear more prominently, overlaid directly on YouTube Shorts and below the player for long-form videos. Labels become permanent when content contains C2PA metadata or was created with YouTube's own AI tools like Veo or Dream Screen. The platform has used AI labels for over two years.
Automatic AI content labeling
- ▪YouTube AI labels will not have an impact on how a video is recommended or its ability to monetize
- ▪Starting in May 2026, YouTube will use new internal signals to help identify AI-generated content and label it accordingly
- ▪YouTube will automatically label videos on behalf of creators when creators neglect to disclose their use of AI
- ▪YouTube announced on May 27, 2026 that YouTube's internal systems will automatically apply labels when YouTube detects that significant photorealistic AI has been used in videos
- ▪Creators whose content was misidentified by YouTube's automatic AI labeling will be able to update the disclosure status in a YouTube video
YouTube AI disclosure policy
- ▪YouTube says its policy around AI labeling has not changed as of May 27, 2026
- ▪YouTube updated its AI policies and rolled out a tool in Creator Studio that required creators to disclose their videos included AI content that could be mistaken for a real person, place, or event
- ▪YouTube AI labels on the video platform have been in use for over two years as of May 27, 2026
- ▪YouTube videos that obviously depicted some sort of animated or imaginative scenario did not have to be labeled under YouTube's AI disclosure policy
Label placement below video player
- ▪YouTube AI labels will appear directly below the video player above the description for long-form videos
- ▪YouTube AI labels will appear overlaid directly on YouTube Shorts
- ▪YouTube will make its AI labels more prominent so they are easier to spot across both long-form videos and YouTube Shorts
- ▪For AI video that is only slightly altered, animated, or unrealistic, the YouTube AI label will appear in the expanded description only
AI deepfake detection expansion
- ▪YouTube expanded its AI deepfake detection to allow any adult to scan YouTube specifically for face matches
C2PA metadata permanent labels
- ▪OpenAI committed to the C2PA standard, joining Nvidia, Kakao, and Eleven Labs
- ▪YouTube labels will be permanently attached to videos when the content contains C2PA metadata indicating it was fully AI-generated
- ▪Creators will not be able to remove YouTube AI labels if the content was created with YouTube's own AI tools, like Veo or Dream Screen
YouTube AI product investments
- ▪YouTube has been investing in AI for a playlist generator for YouTube Music
- ▪YouTube has been investing in AI for its interactive search feature called Ask YouTube
- ▪Google released Gemini Omni, a new family of multimodal AI models at its Google I/O developer conference in May 2026 that can output high-quality videos that reflect an understanding of physics, culture, history, and science
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