Will YouTube Ban AI Content? Here’s The Updated Policy
What the actual July 15 monetization update says and how it compares to the old policy
One of the worst fears of many YouTubers before the July 15, 2025 update was that YouTube would ban all videos with AI content. Now that the latest update is out, what’s the real score?
Before the update itself, YouTube has already clarified what the July changes will comprise:
“To be clear, we’re not introducing a new YPP policy. This is a minor update to our long-standing “repetitious content” guideline. We regularly update and evolve our policies based on the content on YouTube, and this update is to clarify that this policy includes content that is mass-produced or repetitive, which is content viewers often consider spam.”
Contrary to popular opinion on the issue, YouTube did not focus on AI content, but on what it called “repetitious” and “mass-produced” content.
Have you ever seen those channels releasing 3 or more videos a day that seem to be similar in content? Not only are the thumbnails almost identical. Even the videos themselves can be observed to be very similar with only a slight variation among them.
YouTube gave some specific examples of what these types of content look like:
A channel that uploads narrated stories with only superficial differences between them
A channel that uploads slideshows that all have the same narration
Come July 15 itself, here’s the actual summary of its latest monetization policies:
“We’re making a minor update to our ‘repetitious content’ policy to better clarify this includes content that is repetitive or mass-produced. We are also renaming this policy from ‘repetitious content’ to ‘inauthentic content.’ This type of content has always been ineligible for monetization under our existing policies, where creators are rewarded for original and authentic content. There is no change to our reused content policy which reviews content like commentary, clips, compilations, and reaction videos.”
If you continue to read what the rest of the updated policy says, you will find that the previous heading “Repetitious content” is now titled “Inauthentic content.”
Here is the section before the update:
Repetitious content refers to a channel where the content is so similar that viewers may have trouble spotting the difference between videos. This includes content that looks like it’s made with a template with little to no variation across videos, or content that’s easily replicable at scale.
And here’s how it now reads:
Inauthentic content refers to mass-produced or repetitive content. This includes content that looks like it’s made with a template with little to no variation across videos, or content that’s easily replicable at scale.
Under the section on “what’s not allowed to monetize,” there is a slight change in words.
This is how the content was worded before the update:
“Similar repetitive content, or mindless content with low educational value, commentary, or narratives”
And this is now what the policy says:
“Similar repetitive content with low educational value, commentary, narratives, or minimal variation across videos”
The phrase “mindless content” seems to have been removed, while the description “minimal variation across videos” has been emphasized.
If you want to see and compare YouTube’s monetization policies before the July 15, 2025 update, you can try to check the “Wayback Machine” website. Simply enter the URL of the page you are looking for and click on the previous date where you want to see how that page used to look like.
To make it easier for you, simply click here to see what YouTube’s monetization policies page looked like before the update.
What About AI Content?
True to its earlier clarification, there was no mention of anything about AI in the updated monetization policies. To read YouTube’s current stand on AI content, we can rely for now on the said clarification, which states this about AI:
“We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetize. All channels must follow our monetization policies and creators are required to disclose when their realistic content is altered or synthetic. More info on how to disclose altered or synthetic content in our Help Center.”
While YouTube does not prevent its content creators from using AI tools, one should disclose the use of altered or synthetic content.
The setting can be found while uploading a video. You must choose “Yes” when asked whether your video includes altered content.
Here is the actual question you will find on YouTube’s settings:
Do any of the following describe your content?
Makes a real person appear to say or do something they didn’t say or do
Alters footage of a real event or place
Generates a realistic-looking scene that didn’t actually occur
YouTube does not want its videos to be misleading. This is the reason why content creators must indicate any use of synthetic or altered content. More details can be found in their Help Center.
What happens if you choose not disclose your altered/synthetic content?
YouTube warns:
“…creators who consistently choose not to disclose this information may be subject to penalties from YouTube, including removal of content or suspension from the YouTube Partner Program.”
To wrap it up, YouTube is not banning videos with AI content, but one must disclose it for videos concerned.
The latest updates mostly refer to repetitive and mass-produced content. These types are the ones you must avoid in order to comply with YouTube’s monetization policies.