YouTube

YouTube is the world's largest video-sharing and streaming platform, owned by Google (Alphabet Inc.) since 2006. It hosts over 800 million videos and serves more than 2 billion logged-in users per month, making it the second-most visited website globally after Google Search. YouTube operates as both a user-generated content platform and a professional media distribution channel; it is simultaneously a competitor to traditional broadcasters and a distribution partner for the same organisations. In the media-AI-pivot context, YouTube appears as the platform through which DAZN and TikTok structured their joint Serie A livestream experiment on 30 April 2026, illustrating how traditional streaming sports rights holders are testing free-to-air audience acquisition via social and video platforms.

YouTube was founded in 2005 by former PayPal employees and acquired by Google for $1.65 billion in 2006. It introduced the YouTube Partner Programme in 2007, enabling creators to share advertising revenue, which seeded the creator economy. YouTube Premium (a subscription tier offering ad-free viewing and exclusive content) launched in 2018. YouTube TV, a live television streaming service, has approximately 8 million subscribers in the US. YouTube's advertising revenue exceeded $35 billion in 2025, making it one of the world's most profitable digital advertising properties.

YouTube's AI strategy is evolving on multiple fronts: it uses AI extensively for content recommendation, moderation and advertising targeting, and has introduced AI-assisted creation tools for creators including automatic dubbing and background generation. Its role in the media-AI-pivot story extends beyond distribution to include the platform's own AI content policies, which affect how media organisations can publish AI-generated content and how AI-summarisation features interact with publisher monetisation.