Overview
- YouTube introduced YouTube Labs as a new hub for trying early AI experiments, announcing the program in a company blog post on Friday.
- The first test adds AI music hosts that chime in during mixes and radio with brief stories, fan trivia, and commentary intended to deepen listening.
- Access is restricted to a limited number of U.S.-based participants who enroll, with coverage conflicting on whether a YouTube Premium subscription is required.
- Testers see a new Now Playing button in YouTube Music to enable the feature, with options to snooze for an hour or a day, and YouTube notes experiments may be disabled without notice.
- YouTube warns the AI commentary can include mistakes and that quality may vary, and participation data may be used to improve Google products, positioning the feature alongside Spotify’s earlier AI DJ trend.