YouTube’s Made On 2026 event: custom feeds, Shorts series and live auto-dubbing
From mood-based homepages to three thumbnails per video, here's what YouTube announced for viewers, creators and streamers on Sept 23.
The tea in 3
- Custom Feeds let U.S. users build homepages around a mood or interest, rolling out this fall.
- Creators get Shorts series, a Gemini-powered editing assistant and up to three thumbnails per video.
- Livestreams get real-time auto-dubbing, with an English and Spanish pilot planned for early next year.
YouTube used its Made On event on Sept 23 to show off a long list of new features, from homepages you can tune to your mood to a chatbot-style editor for Shorts. Here’s the list, sorted by who it’s for, based on Google’s recap, YouTube’s blog and Social Media Today.
For viewers
- Custom Feeds: describe what you want to watch and save it as an alternate homepage. YouTube says it will be available to U.S. users on web, mobile and TV “this fall.” Testing began with select users in May.
- Ask YouTube: an AI chatbot. In shopping, you can ask product questions without leaving the video.
- Shorts series: creators can group Shorts into seasons and episodes, including on TV. YouTube pitches it for episodic storytelling and microdramas.
- Watch With: expands to all eligible videos.
For creators
- AI editing assistant: a Gemini-powered tool in Shorts and the YouTube Create app. Per YouTube, you can use text prompts to trim speech, sync music, add text hooks and reorder frames.
- Thumbnails: upload up to three per video, and YouTube shows each audience the most relevant one (“soon,” per Social Media Today).
- A/B testing of video edits and variations.
- Likeness detection: YouTube is testing speaking-voice detection on top of face detection.
- Brand tools: Ask Studio help drafting brand proposals (“soon,” per Social Media Today), plus Affiliate Campaigns where brands invite creators with flat fees and commission.
For streamers
Live auto-dubbing aims to break language barriers in real time. Social Media Today says the pilot is planned for English and Spanish early next year. Also announced: experimental live showdowns, where streamers compete head-to-head for viewer donations.
For music and shopping
YouTube Music gets Ask Music, an AI feature for finding your next favorite track, and Podcast Lineup, curated weekly podcast summaries. The Shopping affiliate program is in the U.S., U.K., Thailand and India, with a goal of 35 markets by year’s end.
Google’s recap gives no dates for most of these. Only Custom Feeds has a window, and several items are tests or “coming soon.”
What happens next
Custom Feeds are the one to watch this fall. Everything else will trickle out into next year.
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