You open YouTube Shorts and something feels off. A monkey in a dramatic rescue that looks almost real. A baby floating in space. A bulldog wandering through a candy forest. The same template, again and again.
You are not imagining it. A study by the video-editing company Kapwing found that about 54% of the first 500 Shorts shown to a brand-new account were either AI slop or brainrot.
The channels behind this content are also estimated to earn around $117 million a year. This guide covers the data on YouTube Shorts AI slop, the countries watching it, the money behind it, and what YouTube is doing about it as of October 2026.
- What Did the Kapwing Study Find About YouTube Shorts AI Slop?
- Which Countries Watch the Most AI Slop?
- How Do AI Slop Channels Make $117 Million a Year?
- How Is YouTube Responding to AI Slop?
- Why Does the Algorithm Keep Showing AI Slop?
- What Does This Mean for Real Creators?
- Is Half of YouTube Shorts Really AI Slop?
- FAQs
What Did the Kapwing Study Find About YouTube Shorts AI Slop?
Kapwing is a video-editing platform many creators use to trim clips and add captions. In late 2025, its team ran a simple test. They created a brand-new YouTube account with no watch history and looked at what the algorithm served first. The findings appeared in Kapwing's AI slop report, which news outlets covered widely.
There was no personalization and no browsing history. It was a blank slate.
How Researchers Tested a Brand-New Account?
The team reviewed the first 500 Shorts the account was shown. Here is how they sorted them:
- 104 videos (21%) were AI slop: low-quality, mass-produced AI content made to farm views and subscribers.
- 165 videos (33%) were brainrot: repetitive, low-quality content built to keep people scrolling.
Together that is 269 of 500 videos, or about 54%.
One limit matters here. This was a single new account and a single batch of 500 Shorts, and Kapwing itself makes AI video tools. Treat 54% as a snapshot of a fresh feed, not a platform-wide average.
“Not sure what counts as slop? Learn the signs you are looking at AI slop before you swipe again.”
AI Slop vs Brainrot: What Is the Difference?
Kapwing defined both terms clearly. AI slop is content made with AI tools and minimal human effort. It usually has these traits:
- Mass-produced at scale
- Built for algorithmic engagement rather than value
- Repetitive templates, AI voices or synthetic visuals
Brainrot is a broader label that often overlaps with slop. It covers nonsensical, compulsive, low-quality videos, whether or not AI made them. That is why 33% of the sample was brainrot even where the content was not clearly AI-generated.
“Worried about kids? Read how AI brain rot videos hook children with endless loops.”
Which Countries Watch the Most AI Slop?
Kapwing looked at the top 100 trending channels in every country, and the spread is uneven.
- Spain leads in subscribers, with 20.22 million across its trending AI slop channels. It reached that total with only eight such channels in its top 100, so the audience is concentrated.
- South Korea leads in views, with 8.45 billion. One channel, Three Minutes Wisdom, accounts for about 2.02 billion of them, nearly a quarter of the country's total.
- Channel counts among each country's top 100 trending channels are: Pakistan 20, Egypt 14, South Korea 11 and the United States 9.
- Cuentos Fascinantes, a US-based Spanish-language channel, is the most-subscribed AI slop channel, with nearly 6 million subscribers.
How Do AI Slop Channels Make $117 Million a Year?
This is where the story gets big. Kapwing flagged 278 channels that publish only AI slop. According to the Guardian's report on the study, those channels together hold more than 63 billion views and 221 million subscribers, and earn an estimated $117 million a year.
The Biggest Earners
- Bandar Apna Dost, an Indian channel that places an AI-generated monkey in dramatic situations, is estimated to earn up to $4.25 million a year.
- Pouty Frenchie, which shows an AI-animated bulldog in candy forests, is estimated to earn nearly $4 million a year.
- The ten highest-earning channels together pull in about $33.6 million a year.
The Guardian also found that nine of the 100 fastest-growing YouTube channels in July 2025 posted only AI-generated content, close to one in ten.
The economics are simple. AI tools make videos cheap, short-form feeds reward volume, and ad revenue flows to whoever uploads the most watchable clips.
“Want the full money breakdown? See how the AI slop economy turns views into cash.”
How Is YouTube Responding to AI Slop?
YouTube has changed its rules in two main ways.
The Inauthentic Content Policy
In July 2025, YouTube renamed its "repetitious content" rule to "inauthentic content" in its channel monetization policies for the Partner Program. The policy covers mass-produced or repetitive content and applies to a channel as a whole.
YouTube's head of editorial and creator liaison, Rene Ritchie, described the change as a minor update to long-standing rules, since this kind of content was already ineligible for monetization.
The target is spam-like videos, such as an AI voiceover laid over stock footage and repeated endlessly. It is not every video that uses AI tools.
“Worried about your own channel? Check these signs a YouTube channel is demonetized for AI content.”
Prominent AI Labels
In May 2026, YouTube announced new AI labels that sit in more prominent spots. Here is how they work:
- On long videos, the label appears below the player and above the description.
- On Shorts, the label appears as an overlay on the video.
- The label covers photorealistic or meaningfully AI-altered or AI-generated content.
- From May 2026, YouTube's systems can add a label automatically when they detect significant photorealistic AI use, even if the creator did not disclose it.
- YouTube says a label alone does not change how a video is recommended or whether it can earn money.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan also committed to fighting AI slop in his 2026 annual letter. A follow-up review of the original dataset by NeoMam Studios, the agency that produced the report with Kapwing, found that 16 of the 100 most-subscribed AI slop channels had been deleted or had their content removed.
“For more on the crackdown, read about YouTube's AI slop purge.”
What About Faceless Creators?
Not every faceless channel is slop. Many solo creators publish narrated explainers, ambient videos and niche education without ever appearing on camera.
YouTube's policy targets mass-produced, repetitive content, not the absence of a face. Creators who add original commentary, research, editing and a clear point of view are in the strongest position under the rules.
“See what happened when Google's AI deleted YouTube channels.”
Why Does the Algorithm Keep Showing AI Slop?
YouTube Shorts is a swipe feed. Videos play automatically, and short-form feeds tend to reward quick retention, meaning whether a viewer stays past the first two or three seconds. AI tools are good at producing opening shots that stop a thumb for a moment.
Kapwing reported that its new account saw its first AI slop video after about 16 Shorts. Short-form platforms also tend to reward frequent uploads, quick watch times and continuous scrolling, which suits content that can be made fast with little variation.
There is a caveat. Kapwing noted that only Google can say whether the high share comes from the recommendation system or from the sheer volume of slop being uploaded. A YouTube spokesperson told the Guardian that the company aims to connect people with high-quality content, however it was made.
“Thumbnails matter too. Read how AI-generated thumbnails can trigger a YouTube algorithm penalty.”
What Does This Mean for Real Creators?
If your feed looks like Kapwing's test, original creators are competing with slop for the first swipes. That has a few practical effects:
- Discovery can be harder. A new viewer may see slop before they ever see your video.
- Monetization depends on originality. Mass-produced, repetitive channels risk losing eligibility, while AI-assisted work with real human value is treated differently.
- Disclosure matters. Realistic AI content needs to be disclosed, and YouTube can now label it automatically.
- Variety helps. Avoid reusing one template across dozens of videos.
“A cautionary tale: see how YouTube's AI killed a 13-year-old channel.”
Is Half of YouTube Shorts Really AI Slop?
In Kapwing's test, yes: 54% of the first 500 Shorts shown to a new account were AI slop or brainrot. That breaks down to 21% AI slop and 33% brainrot.
The method removes personalization bias, but it covers one account and one moment in time. So the honest reading is that a fresh Shorts feed can be dominated by low-quality content, not that half of all Shorts are slop.
The AI slop economy is real and large, and YouTube is responding with clearer monetization rules, prominent labels and channel removals. Whether platforms can balance short-form economics with quality is a question the next few years will answer.
FAQs
How much of YouTube Shorts is AI slop?
In Kapwing's test of 500 Shorts on a new account, 21% were AI slop and 33% were brainrot, about 54% combined. It is a snapshot, not a platform-wide figure.
What is AI slop?
AI slop is low-quality, mass-produced content made with AI tools to farm views and ad revenue, usually with little human effort or creative input.
Does YouTube demonetize AI videos?
Not automatically. YouTube's inauthentic content policy targets mass-produced or repetitive content. YouTube also says an AI label alone does not change monetization eligibility.
Which country has the most AI slop subscribers?
Spain, with 20.22 million combined subscribers across its trending AI slop channels, according to Kapwing.
How can I see less AI slop in my feed?
Swipe away quickly, use "Not interested" or "Don't recommend channel" on slop videos, and avoid watching it to the end.
