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AI-created videos are flooding YouTube, experts say
The Guardian
|August 12, 2025
Babies trapped in space, zombie football stars and cat soap operas: welcome to YouTube in the era of artificial intelligence – or, to its detractors, the age of "AI slop".
Nearly one in 10 of the fastest-growing YouTube channels globally are showing only AI-generated videos, as breakthroughs in the technology spur a flood of content.
Guardian analysis of data from the analytics firm Playboard reveals that of the 100 fastest-growing channels in July, nine were showing purely AI-generated content.
The offerings include channels featuring a baby crawling into a pre-launch space rocket, an undead Cristiano Ronaldo and melodramas featuring anthropomorphic cats.
AI video generation has surged after the release of powerful tools such as Google's Veo 3 and Elon Musk's Grok Imagine.
The channels have millions of subscribers in total, including 1.6 million for the space baby and 3.9 million for Super Cat League, which features human-like cats having affairs and, among many bizarre scenes, shooting down and dismembering an eagle.
This story is from the August 12, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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