YouTube promises custom feeds and a lot more AI later this year

The annual Made on YouTube event has just wrapped up, offering an early look at the features you can expect to come to Google's dominant online streaming platform in the coming months. Yes, there's plenty of AI for both viewers and creators, but there's also a handful of non-AI updates mixed in there, too.

The design of YouTube's homepage feed comes under fire often, but the platform is preparing to give you more options. With Custom Feeds, you'll be able to add new tabs to the YouTube interface with content of your choice. To create a feed, just type a description and let YouTube populate the page.

You can refine your description and rate video suggestions to tune the Custom Feed. Google says you'll be able to save "multiple" feeds without specifying the exact number. This feature will roll out soon in the US for web, mobile, and TV users. Interacting on YouTube will also change later this year.

The platform will finally add the option to post GIFs in comments, which has apparently been a common request for some time. The comment box will let you search for popular animated thumbnails and post them on both regular videos and YouTube Shorts.

The YouTube direct messaging feature is also adding support for group chat, but it's only going to be available in the US, UK, Singapore, Brazil, and some European countries to start.

In Digital, Ryan Whitwam puts this story at the center of the day: The annual Made on YouTube event has just wrapped up, offering an early look at the features you can expect to come to Google's dominant online streaming platform in the coming months. Yes, there's plenty of AI for both viewers and creators, but there's also a handful of non-AI updates mixed in there, too. FlexChar is surfacing it because it is driving searches and conversation right now.