Home Business Digital Marketing YouTube Cracks Down on AI-Gene...

YouTube Cracks Down on AI-Generated Content with New Monetization Policies

Digital Marketing

Business Honor
15 July, 2025

YouTube limits AI content monetization to ensure quality, original videos and protect advertisers.

YouTube is rolling out significant changes to monetization policies from July 15 as an attempt to counteract the increasing issue of AI-generated content taking over its platform. The new rules will restrict earning opportunities for creators who produce what YouTube considers "inauthentic" or mass-produced content. The policy update is aimed at repetitive or automatically generated material by artificial intelligence software. AI-created videos, ranging from synthesized music streams to fabricated news reporting, have gained popularity on YouTube, with most concerned about the quality of content. YouTube Head of Editorial & Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie described these updates as supplementing existing standards for "original" and "authentic" content. The new rules will now provide more detailed definitions of what constitutes inauthentic content.

This comes as YouTube struggles with an overabundance of AI-produced content that is optimized for algorithmic engagement rather than providing real value to the consumer. The simplicity with which AI software has allowed producers to produce quickly, using synthesized voiceover on existing shots or pictures, has made content more accessible. But this has also translated to what critics label "AI slop" — inferior content that doesn't contribute creatively in any meaningful way.

The new policies are not intended to hit established structures like reaction videos or compilation videos. Instead, YouTube aims at large-scale automated content generation. By implementing the guidelines, YouTube is trying to keep the content quality, protect its brand, and preserve the trust of advertisers. The policy change enables YouTube to have control over systematically addressing channels that rely heavily on AI-created content for their monetization streams so that monetization remains linked to original and quality content creation. These changes reflect the broader struggle of online advertising, with platforms like YouTube struggling with the growing influence of AI software in contributing to content creation.