YouTube Shorts Debuts AI Avatars for Self-Cloned Videos

YouTube is rolling out an AI avatar feature for Shorts that lets creators record a live selfie to generate a digital version of themselves, which can be used in new clips or added to eligible Shorts; avatars must be used in the creator's own original videos, with remix controls and automatic deletion after three years if unused; all avatar content will be clearly labeled as AI-generated with watermarking like SynthID and C2PA; access is gradual, requiring 18+, an existing channel, and is part of Google's Gemini AI toolkit; it comes amid concerns about deepfakes and other AI-generated content.