YouTube pushes back against AI content while OpenAI browser to challenge Chrome: This week's news roundup

YouTube pushes back against AI and comes down on the side of human creativity and originality, while OpenAI’s browser will integrate AI features into the core product.

YouTube looks to stem the tide of AI slop

In a pushback against repetitive mass-produced content, YouTube is adjusting its monetisation policy next week and will require creators of original content to use real voices in order to qualify for monetisation.

The core eligibility requirements of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) – 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 valid watch hours – remain, but the focus is shifting towards rewarding genuine creativity and originality. The use of AI to improve content remains eligible for the partner program, provided it meets the other policy requirements.

YouTube’s decision is a response to the flood of poor quality AI-generated content on the platform. It’s hard to pin down definitive numbers on the volume of AI slop on YouTube, with commentators putting it at anywhere between 50% and 90% of content, depending on the format. And while it’s an issue for all social media platforms, the problem of AI slop – which can be very lucrative for those making it – is thought to be most acute on YouTube. 

We should differentiate this from content creators' responsible use of AI to improve their content, which is now pervasive on YouTube, as this report from Sherwood News, shows. For example, in May, four of the top 10 YouTube channels with the most subscribers featured AI-generated material in every video. Rene Ritchie, YouTube's Head of Editorial and Creator Liaison, emphasised this in a video, saying that it’s a “minor update to YouTube’s longstanding YPP policies to help better identify when content is mass-produced or repetitive”. 

YouTube says it's all about rewarding authenticity and creativity and ensuring that creators who add real value to the community are rewarded. And of course there are sensible business reasons behind the move. It degrades the reputation of the platform, and users and advertisers – who together with creators make up YouTube’s customer base – understandably either hate having to wade through the slop to get the content they watch to view, or are very concerned about reputational damage to their brands. It wants to hold on to user trust by marking what is synthetic and get ahead of inevitable future regulation on AI transparency by requiring creators to disclose the use of AI voluntarily.

What other platforms do, with varying amounts of success:

• TikTok requires creators to label any content “completely generated” or significantly edited with AI
• Facebook and Instagram flag AI-generated content for users, with a structured labelling system rolled out in 2024 and updated in 2025
• Spotify however, currently offers no labels or notifications to users indicating that a track or artist is AI-generated. This is in contrast to Deezer, which now flags about 18 % of its daily uploads as AI‑generated music.

OpenAI to launch browser “in coming weeks”

OpenAI is releasing a browser to challenge Google Chrome, Reuters reports. The browser will be launched “in the coming weeks” and will use “artificial intelligence to fundamentally change how consumers browse the web”. The unnamed browser is reportedly built using Google’s open-source Chromium tech, which powers Chrome, Edge and other web browsers.

Commentators are already forecasting another round of browser wars to match the struggle for dominance that occurred 15 to 20 years ago. But so far, all we know is that OpenAI’s browser is designed so you can chat with it instead of clicking through pages, and that an AI agent will handle your task for you. This means more of the user’s actions are kept “in-house” so that OpenAI can collect key user data. It appears to offer what some are calling a new paradigm for browsing by integrating AI features into the core product.

OpenAI already has 400–500 million weekly ChatGPT users it can push towards the browser when it launches. But any UX specialist will tell you that changing entrenched habits is hard – Chrome has over three billion users and about two-thirds of the global browser market share.

Revolut looks for additional funding

Fintech Revolut is reportedly in talks to raise about $1 billion in new funding at a proposed valuation of $65 billion, up from last year’s $45 billion. Privately-held Revolut is Europe’s most valuable startup and has ambitions to continue growing internationally. It’s thought the new capital will support Revolut's push into markets like the United States and Mexico, where it already has a presence, and India, where it plans to launch this year.

Just Eat launches summer membership scheme

With a novel take on loyalty programmes, Just Eat, the food delivery app market leader in Europe, has launched a time-limited membership scheme to drive orders and attract new customers over the summer. The scheme is pitched at £5.99 for unlimited free delivery for 90 days and covers food, grocery, pharmacy and everyday essentials, and aims to capitalise on increased consumer demand for convenience foods during the summer months.