Google is testing AI chatbot search for YouTube

Google is experimenting with a new AI-powered search feature for YouTube called 'Ask YouTube,' currently available to US YouTube Premium subscribers aged 18 and older. This feature transforms the standard search bar into a conversational interface, generating a full-page results screen that includes AI-generated text summaries, bulleted lists of key facts, and curated galleries of longform videos, YouTube Shorts, and text snippets. For example, searching 'short history of the Apollo 11 moon landing' produced a summary with milestones like the lunar landing date and Neil Armstrong's first step, followed by timestamped videos from channels like 'The Life Guide' and galleries under headers such as 'From Launch to Splashdown' and 'Historic Footage and Behind-the-Scenes.' The page also suggests follow-up prompts like 'Who were the Apollo 11 astronauts' (which generated astronaut bios in a grid) and 'Apollo 11 conspiracy theories' (which returned standard search results).

In a test with the new Steam Controller, Ask YouTube provided an overview, pointed to Valve's official video, and highlighted both longform reviews and Shorts (including The Verge's). However, it made a factual error: it claimed the old Steam Controller had no joysticks, when it actually has one. This underscores the need for users to verify AI-generated information. YouTube says it's 'working on' expanding the experiment to non-Premium users. The feature parallels Google's broader push into AI Mode, which has already been integrated into Gmail and general search, signaling that Google sees 'Ask YouTube' as a key part of its AI-powered future for video discovery and information retrieval.