YouTube Chief Executive Officer, Neal Mohan, has declared that the next revolution in creativity and brand building will be driven by creators, fandoms, and artificial intelligence, with YouTube at the centre of it all.
Delivering a keynote at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Mohan reflected on YouTube’s 20-year journey from a single 19-second video to becoming what he described as “the epicentre of culture.”
“Today, YouTube is where culture with a capital ‘C’ is made,” he said, noting that creators have evolved from bedroom vloggers to full-scale production houses, with some building studios and hiring screenwriters, editors, and directors.
He cited the example of French creator Inoxtag, whose Everest documentary Kaizen premiered in cinemas and on YouTube, garnering 17 million views in under 48 hours.
Mohan also revealed that YouTube Shorts now averages over 200 billion daily views, while more than one billion hours of YouTube content are watched on TV screens each day.
On the role of AI, Mohan announced that Google’s Veo 3 video generation model will be integrated into YouTube Shorts later this summer. The tool, which creates video and audio from text prompts, is expected to “open new creative lanes” for content creators.
He added that YouTube’s Auto Dubbing feature has already translated over 20 million videos into nine languages, with 11 more to follow, helping creators reach global audiences.
“Creators are the startups of Hollywood,” Mohan said. “They’re flipping formats, blending genres, and building real-world businesses. And their communities aren’t just watching — they’re shaping culture.”
From podcasts and livestreams to stadium-filling events like the Sidemen Charity Match, Mohan said the creator economy is no longer a side hustle but a cultural and commercial force.
“My biggest bet is that YouTube will continue to be the stage where it all happens,” he concluded.
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