YouTube is letting creators opt into allowing third-party AI training

YouTube to Allow Creators to License Videos for AI Training

YouTube is rolling out a new feature that will allow creators to license their videos for use in training artificial intelligence (AI) models. The default setting for this feature is off, meaning that creators don’t have to do anything if they don’t want to allow third-party companies to use their videos for AI training. However, creators who do want to allow this will be given the option to do so.

How it Works

According to a support post by a TeamYouTube staffer named Rob, creators will be able to choose from a list of third-party companies that can train on their videos. They will also have the option to allow all third-party companies to train on their videos. The initial list of companies includes AI21 Labs, Adobe, Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, ByteDance, Cohere, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Perplexity, Pika Labs, Runway, Stability AI, and xAI.

Google’s Perspective

A YouTube spokesperson, Jack Malon, said that the list of companies was chosen because they are building generative AI models and are likely sensible choices for a potential partnership with creators.

What This Means

This announcement comes as reports of AI models from big companies, including OpenAI, Apple, and Anthropic, being trained on content and datasets scraped from YouTube have been circulating. Google itself already uses YouTube data to help train its AI tools.

Conclusion

The new feature is a significant development in the world of AI and content creation. It provides creators with more control over how their content is used and potentially allows for new forms of collaboration between creators and third-party companies.

FAQs

Q: What is the default setting for this feature?
A: The default setting is off, meaning that creators don’t have to do anything if they don’t want to allow third-party companies to use their videos for AI training.

Q: How can I opt-in to allow third-party companies to train on my videos?
A: Creators will be able to choose from a list of third-party companies that can train on their videos or allow all third-party companies to train on their videos.

Q: How was the list of companies chosen?
A: The list of companies was chosen because they are building generative AI models and are likely sensible choices for a potential partnership with creators.

Q: How does Google use YouTube data?
A: Google uses YouTube data to help train its AI tools, consistent with the terms that creators agree to.