YouTube has widened access to its likeness detection tool, which finds AI deepfakes of a person on the platform and lets them act on them, to Hollywood studios and to anyone its executives describe as at high risk of having their likeness abused. That covers actors, musicians, creators, athletes, journalists and politicians, and people can apply even without a YouTube channel.
The tool grew out of a 2024 partnership with the talent agency CAA and was tested first with a small group of creators, then with journalists and celebrities. Chief business officer Mary Ellen Coe said YouTube was working closely with agencies and management firms so public figures could get ahead of abuse.
Tubefilter reads the move as an overture to studios still wary of AI after it featured in the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. It also notes the tension: YouTube keeps shipping features that make synthetic video easier to produce, and a lot of AI content lifted from actors and filmmakers lives on its site.
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