Neal Mohan, the CEO of YouTube, is betting on artificial intelligence (AI) and the platform’s creators to drive its future growth as the company seeks to expand beyond its current successes. In an interview with The Financial Times, Mohan reflected on his journey with YouTube, which began nearly 20 years ago when he was working for the advertising platform DoubleClick. At the time, DoubleClick was assisting YouTube’s founders in monetizing their fledgling streaming service. Both companies were eventually acquired by Google, a move that set the stage for Mohan’s pivotal role in building Google’s video advertising business.
Today, YouTube generates an impressive $50 billion in annual revenue for Alphabet, Google’s parent company. What started as a platform for amateur videos has grown into a comprehensive hub for music streaming, cable TV, live sports, and a profit-sharing platform for millions of creators. Despite these achievements, Mohan believes the company is still in the early stages of its growth. “We haven’t even touched the tip of the iceberg in what we’ll be able to do with technologies like generative AI,” he told The Financial Times, emphasizing that the future holds even greater potential for the platform.
In 2024, YouTube’s advertising revenue has shown a robust rebound, increasing by 15% to $25.7 billion after a decline in 2023. This resurgence is particularly important for Alphabet, which has made significant investments in data centers and AI development to compete with the likes of Microsoft and Amazon. However, YouTube’s ad revenue remains a smaller piece of Alphabet’s broader advertising business, which generated $144 billion in 2024 from search-linked ads.
Mohan, who became YouTube’s CEO in 2023 after five years as the company’s chief product officer, is focusing on new AI-driven products to fuel the platform’s next phase of growth. At the same time, he is working to ensure that these technological advances support creators rather than threaten them. YouTube has already paid out $70 billion to creators over the past three years, a key part of its strategy to build loyalty among its user base.
Among the AI innovations Mohan highlighted were tools developed by Google’s DeepMind unit, including Dream Screen and Dream Track, which use AI to create video and music from text prompts. Mohan stressed that these AI tools are designed to assist creators, not replace them. “AI has to be in service of human creativity,” he said. “They are tools in the hands of creators. They are never meant to replace them.”
YouTube’s growing connected TV segment is also driving significant growth. With users now streaming a billion hours of content daily on connected TVs, YouTube is investing more than $20 billion in original content in 2024, placing it ahead of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery. A major part of this strategy is YouTube’s $14 billion, seven-year deal to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games in the United States, contributing to the platform’s overall rise in sports content consumption.
Mohan’s leadership also comes with its share of challenges. One of the most contentious issues has been YouTube’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump after the January 6 Capitol riot, which led to accusations of political censorship from Trump’s supporters. In response, Mohan defended YouTube’s commitment to free speech while maintaining that the platform must enforce community guidelines. “It doesn’t mean that anything goes,” he noted.
