One of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s priorities for 2026 is mitigating low-quality AI content on the popular video-sharing platform.

In his just-published annual letter to creators, Mohan lays out a rather delicate balancing act he hopes to perfect—positioning the emerging technology as “a boon to the creatives who are ready to lean in” while also taking a firmer stance against “AI slop”.

On one hand, YouTube will be introducing new AI features this year, including a tool that allows creators to make Shorts using their own AI likenesses, and prompt-based programs for producing games and music. 

Nevertheless, YouTube also bears “a responsibility to maintain the high-quality viewing experience that people want,” Mohan added. Without offering additional details, he said the platform is using the systems it has relied on for identifying spam and clickbait to also reduce the spread of low-quality AI content.

This move builds on YouTube’s recent effort to eliminate prominent channels dedicated to fake AI-generated movie trailers. And it could mean a potentially huge reduction in the number of channels that exploit the tech to create slop aimed at kids, which has been a growing concern in the industry and in society at large. Kids safety is an area where YouTube has become more stringent in general, evidenced by its most recent parental control updates—which include a soon-to-launch feature whereby parents will be able to set time limits on Shorts scrolling for kids and teens.

It was roughly a year ago that YouTube pledged to limit kids’ access to low-quality content as part of a digital wellbeing initiative, although this announcement was unclear on exactly how it was going to do this. More recently, YouTube released guidance outlining how it defines high-quality content (videos that promote principles like joy and skillbuilding) versus low-quality content (material that glorifies bullying or promotes get-rich-quick schemes).

Still, Mohan underlines that AI has been helpful to YouTube creators and audiences alike. Roughly a million YouTube channels used the platform’s AI-creation tools on a daily basis in December. And in that same month, six million viewers watched at least 10 minutes of auto-dubbed content every day on average.

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