YouTube expands – YouTube is rolling out its AI likeness detection tool to all eligible users 18 and older in the coming weeks, letting people find AI-generated videos that use their facial likeness without permission and request removals through YouTube Studio.
YouTube is preparing to open its AI likeness detection tool to far more people than it originally targeted—moving beyond journalists, politicians, government officials, and entertainment figures.
In an announcement post on its creator forum, the platform said the feature will be expanded to everyone over 18 over the coming weeks. The tool scans YouTube for AI-generated videos or deepfakes that appear to use a person’s facial likeness and lets users request removals.
The rollout is set to happen in YouTube Studio, where the system relies on a one-time facial verification process. Users must upload their government ID and record a brief selfie video. YouTube says this is used to identify “altered or synthetic” uses of a person’s likeness across YouTube.
Once enrolled, people can see where their face may have appeared in AI-generated videos and request the removal of content that violates YouTube’s privacy guidelines. The company positions the tool as a way to prevent viewers from being misled by deepfakes pretending to feature real people.
This expansion follows an earlier, narrower launch.. YouTube previously rolled out AI likeness detection for journalists. politicians. government officials. and entertainment figures—categories that signal the feature was first built for public-facing audiences.. Now the same protection is being offered more broadly, and YouTube is explicitly widening who can qualify.
“With this expansion, we’re making clear that whether creators have been uploading to YouTube for a decade or are just starting, they’ll have access to the same level of protection,” YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon told The Verge.
The sequence is consistent: YouTube first limited AI likeness detection to named groups like journalists and politicians. then it defined eligibility by making it effectively open to “virtually any eligible user. ” and now it’s setting the same tool to land in YouTube Studio for all users 18 and above over the next few weeks.
There are limits to what the system covers.. The feature currently only addresses facial likenesses, not AI-generated voice clones.. Even with the added capabilities, YouTube says takedown requests will still be reviewed under its privacy policies.. Users can also opt out later and request deletion of their facial data.
To use the feature once it’s available. YouTube says it will roll out gradually over the next few weeks to users 18 and above.. When it arrives. people can start by opening YouTube Studio on a computer. selecting Content detection > Likeness > Start now from the left menu. granting permission to use likeness detection technology. and completing the one-time verification process that takes a few minutes.
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