YouTube adds AI conversational search and Gemini Omni tools

As Google revamps its search experience, YouTube’s search bar is being updated with AI tools. The platform is introducing “Ask YouTube,” a conversational search feature that is supposed to provide a more sophisticated search experience. The tool is currently available to Premium subscribers—users who pay for YouTube’s subscription service—in the U.S. on desktop, who can access it through the platform’s optional Premium offerings to test new tools. With this feature, users can input complex queries, such as wanting tips on how to teach your kid to ride a bike, or finding creator reviews of cozy games to play before bedtime. YouTube will compile both its short-form and long-form videos to generate a response, and users can ask follow-up questions to continue refining what they are looking for.

Alongside the search update, the company is adding Gemini Omni, Google’s AI video model, to YouTube Shorts—the platform’s short-form video product—via the Shorts Remix feature, as well as to the YouTube Create video editing application. According to YouTube, remixing with the model delivers a fresh way for users to create and build on each other’s imagination. “The model better understands user intent creating more consistent and meaningful storytelling while also handling complex video and audio adjustments behind the scenes,” the company stated. While other platforms have pushed AI tools front and center, YouTube seems to be rolling these features out in a manner that feels less prominent.

YouTube is also expanding its likeness-detection tool to creators 18 and older. This safety feature is supposed to prevent creators from being deepfaked in other people’s AI content. Under this system, if creators see themselves misrepresented in AI-generated videos, they can request that the video be removed from the platform. Because the likeness-detection feature is only now expanding more broadly, its overall effectiveness remains to be seen. The expansion comes as YouTube navigates a competitive landscape where rivals like Meta and OpenAI have faced mixed reception when pushing for AI use in short-form video. For example, OpenAI recently sunsetted Sora, its social application where users could post and share AI-generated video clips.

Why it matters

YouTube is integrating AI-powered conversational search and the Gemini Omni model into its platform, expanding its AI toolset for both viewers and creators. By combining search upgrades with creator safety features, the platform is attempting to deploy AI utility while addressing creator concerns over unauthorized likeness replication.