YouTube is the #1 most-watched distributor of content on TVs in the United States. As of this moment, there isn’t a challenger capable of threatening that position–but YouTube is still doing everything it can to stay in that spot ahead of Brandcast, its annual presentation to advertisers.

Like it has the past few years, YouTube will hold its 2026 Brandcast during the TV-focused Upfronts (after already presenting during the digital-focused NewFronts). There, it’ll woo marketers who’ve spent decades paying premium prices for TV ads.

And part of that wooing will likely involve the flurry of new TV products it’s announced this week. That flurry was led by Stations, YouTube’s answer to the 24/7 channels that stock FAST platforms like Tubi, Pluto TV, and Roku. YouTube is introducing Stations with its coverage of this year’s Coachella music festival.

Two other new features, though, got a slightly less splashy reveal.

First is “Ask,” YouTube’s video-specific chatbot. It’s already available on YouTube desktop and mobile, but now is coming to TVs with added abilities, like being able to use your TV’s microphone (if it has one) to ask questions.

When Ask launched, YouTube called it a way for viewers to “engage more deeply with the content they were watching.” Example functionalities include “break[ing] down specific moments while watching podcasts, learn[ing] about a city’s landmarks in travel vlogs, and more–all without having to hit pause on their video.”

In an example screenshot posted by Kurt Wilms, YouTube’s Senior Director of Product Management, a viewer asks the chatbot how Nick DiGiovanni got started as a YouTuber. The bot (which runs on Google’s Gemini LLM) responds with facts about DiGiovanni’s background as a MasterChef finalist, and mentions how his first videos were filmed in his apartment.

Obviously this is all information a viewer could find out themself with a search engine, but YouTube’s goal here is to keep people from pausing. More to that point: In his LinkedIn post, Wilms also suggested that viewers should use Ask to find out “What other videos from this creator should I watch?” so YouTube is clearly hoping viewers will let the bot push them to more content.

The other feature is TV Companion, a pairing system where a user’s phone “automatically recognizes what’s playing on your TV, allowing you to interact with comments, control playback, or dive deeper into content without missing a beat,” Wilms said. This system is strung together on YouTube’s end, “no complex pairing or Wi-Fi troubleshooting required,” he promised.

What’s interesting about both the TV Ask feature and TV Companion is that YouTube is going the complete opposite direction of Netflix’s now infamous “second screen” strategy. Netflix is actively dumbing down its productions, assuming viewers will be looking at other content on their phones while ‘watching’ its movies and shows. The results have been…not great.

But YouTube’s features are designed to encourage viewers to stay locked in on content and engage beyond just sitting and staring. It’s aiming to get a viewer’s TV and phone at the same time. It also has enough faith in its audience to think people might have the cognitive capability to ask critical questions while watching videos.

As Wilms put it, “YouTube on the big screen is no longer just a passive experience—it’s an interactive one. Can’t wait for everyone to try these out!”

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Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

This week, a TikTok star delivers an Olympic-sized shrug, a short-form sensation gets tart, and the mad wizard of Roller Coaster Tycoon is back with another vee-dee-o.

Creator commotion

Khaby Lame is an ambassador for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The Games are being held in Dakar, Senegal, where Lame — the most-followed personality on TikTok — was born. If the Olympics are meant to be a celebration of global collaboration and communal spirit, than a creator who communicates wordlessly with fans around the world is an ideal partner.

FaZe Lacy and Sketch got kicked out of a March Madness game. The two streamers had courtside seats in Houston for the Elite Eight, but they were asked to leave after illegally broadcasting the action from their personal devices. With the way sports partnerships are going these days, it won’t be long before creators get the express written consent of the NCAA.

LeBron James hit the links with Bob Does Sports. The brightest star in the NBA universe likes to golf during his spare time, so he ingratiated himself into the booming world of golf creators on YouTube. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Bob Does Sports gang and a reminder of the media presence LeBron has built since moving to L.A. and joining the Lakers.

The biz

ZHC is the latest creator moving into the candy aisle. The short-form superstar teamed up with Warheads to deliver a colorful — and piquant — product to retail and digital shelves. The “Extreme Sour Chewy Candy” is not for the faint of heart, which incidentally makes it the perfect foodstuff for a YouTube challenge.

The U.S. men’s national soccer team debuted its World Cup kits on Roblox. In partnership with the hard-working Roblox agency Gamefam, the USMNT showed stars-and-stripes faithful what their uniforms will look like on the pitch this summer. Activating on Roblox is a great way to reach kids, but it didn’t help the USMNT in their recent friendlies against Belgium and Portugal, as they lost both matches.

The Jim Henson Company has a new manager for its YouTube channels. The audience growth company Viewed will help the late puppeteer’s brand scale up its operations on YouTube. Kermit the Frog has already become a brainrot character on YouTube Shorts. Will the Jim Henson Company lean into those silly videos or move in a different direction?

Pop culture minute

You might remember the ‘Pizza Movie’ filmmakers from their time on YouTube. The upcoming stoner comedy is the product of BriTANicK, a sketch duo that has led a cult classic YouTube channel since way back in the day. Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher are well-versed in short-form laughs. Now, in their college-set flick, they’ll try to keep our attention for over 90 minutes.

Captain Disillusion signs first-look deal with Nebula. On YouTube, Alan Melikdjanian produces videos that stylishly and thoroughly debunk fakes, hoaxes, and other shams. Now, the man known as Captain Disillusion is headed to the creator-led streaming service Nebula, where he’ll move into scripted territory. Per Variety, one of the first projects he’s planning to launch is a sci-fi series.

Kid Cudi is your Big Bro in a new digital series. Luminaries like Kylie Jenner will be guest stars for a show that will fall somewhere between an unscripted web series and a video podcast. It seems like celebrity podcasts are a dime a dozen these days, but maybe Kid Cudi’s big brother persona has some sage advice for making his entry pop.

Platform headlines

YouTube is testing the ability to like comments in bulk. The platform is already employing AI to automate fan interactions for some creators. Now, a new batch liking tool turns the thumbs-up into a streamlined signal, and YouTube is also offering to automatically “heart” comments that read as positive.

Should Instagram let users pay to keep their lurking anonymous? The app is testing a feature that would let paying customers hide their viewing activity on other people’s stories. On one hand, letting people pay to be a little more stalker-y is an odd choice. As a long-time lurker, however, I can’t say I wouldn’t pony up for this particular product.

Australia is threatening social platforms over questionable compliance with teen social media ban. Are hubs like TikTok and Snapchat doing enough to prevent Aussie youngsters from evading federal rules? The government Down Under has its doubts, but if Australian leaders think it’s so easy to keep kids from making dummy social media accounts, I’d like to see them try to root out those fakes.

The internet is a strange place

A Roller Coaster Tycoon creator made a ride that takes longer than the history of the universe. You need 227 zeroes to express the number of years it would take to ride Marcel Vos‘ latest in-game creation. If, like me, you think Roller Coaster Tycoon is the greatest game ever made, you’ve likely heard of Vos. We may be a small community, but we are mighty, and Vos’ mainstream recognition is proof.

A case of on-stream theft had a heartwarming conclusion. Streamer Musa_usa had his tip jar pilfered while he was broadcasting from the inside of his food truck. A few days later, the thief’s mom returned with the stolen money. Get that woman a Musa_usa Subscription, stat!

McDonald’s has a solution for people who don’t want to get fry grease on their controllers. The chain’s “Pro Gamer Menu” in Turkey includes a doohickey that lets you use a controller while eating dinner, no greasy mess added. Or you could just wait until you’ve finished eating to hop into your next game of Overwatch, but I suppose that’s against the spirit of fast food.

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Five months ago, Kaya Yurieff and Jasmine Enberg launched Scalable to dissect the ins and outs of platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch. Now, the two creator economy insiders are adding another facet to their fledgling media company. On May 6, industry professionals will come together at The Lighthouse in Venice, California for the Scalable Summit, a conference that boasts a high-power guest list.

The Scalable Summit website describes the event as a gathering of “founders, creators, marketers, investors, tech executives, and other industry leaders,” who will show attendees how “the future of the creator economy is now.” Agenda items will include “fireside chats, panel conversations, and intimate breakout sessions,” which will collectively cover topics as varied as AI, live shopping, influencer marketing, AI, and sports.

Whalar Group, which has been partnered with Scalable from the jump, will provide the venue for those conversations. The Lighthouse initiative, first established in 2023, is Whalar’s way of fostering in-person dialogues in cities like Los Angeles, New York, and London.

Currently, people who want to attend creator economy conferences have a plethora of choices. There are long-running industry events like VidCon, VidSummit, and BRIDGE Summit. Esteemed entertainment shindigs like the Cannes Film Festival are adding creator-oriented tracks. Then there are the independent, creator-centered gatherings, like Colin and Samir’s Press Publish LA.

Yurieff and Enberg’s plan to make the Scalable Summit stand out involves a streamlined focus and an interdisciplinary approach. As the Scalable co-founders wrote in a recent email, their summit will transcend business-oriented conferences thanks to its “curated and intimate experience with a high-quality group of attendees.” And by bringing together “leaders from different parts of the industry who normally don’t talk to each other,” Yurieff and Enberg hope to spark conversations that otherwise might not happen.

They’ll have the right people in the room to make that happen. Speakers will include Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, TikTok business exec Khartoon Weiss, Tubi creator programming czar Rich Bloom, and Slow Creator Fund partner Megan Lightcap. Check out the Scalable Summit website if you want to be in the room where those talks happen. Otherwise, you can catch Yurieff and Enberg through biweekly Scalable newsletters and weekly podcast episodes.

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Oh sorry, children’s advocacy orgs and experts, you wanted YouTube to have less AI-generated content aimed at kids? HarperCollins plans to add to the pile.

The Big Five publisher has signed a multiyear deal with Toonstar, which describes itself as an “AI-powered” studio built by “a nimble team of creators, builders and technologists hailing from Disney, Warner Bros. + Dreamworks.” (That DreamWorks misformatting is theirs, not ours.)

The goal of their deal is to churn some of HarperCollins’ top-selling titles into animated franchises intended specifically for release on YouTube.

Their slate will launch with content based on Lisa Greenwald‘s middle-grade series Friendship List. HarperCollins wouldn’t tell Publishers Weekly when the series is expected to debut, but did say episodes will be between two and ten minutes long, and added that as the series drops on YouTube, it plans to publish an accompanying graphic novel through its arm HarperAlley.

It described the process with Toonstar as “creator-led,” and a spokesperson told PW that authors “will be consulted and receive royalties.” Presumably “consulted” means authors will have to give permission before their works can be Toonstar’d, but we don’t know what sort of AI allowances are wrapped into authors’ contracts.

Toonstar’s co-founder and CEO John Attanasio promises the company takes an “artist-centered approach” that “ensures these beloved characters and stories stay true to the author’s vision.”

As PW reports, Toonstar hires human artists, then puts their work through its AI system, called Ink & Pixel. That tech “enables fast, high-quality production at scale which unlocks the ability to meet audiences where and when they enjoy content today,” Attanasio said in a statement.

“HarperCollins has always embraced innovation that serves our authors and readers by finding new ways to bring great stories to readers wherever they are,” Liate Stehlik, HarperCollins’ CEO and Publisher of U.S. Trade, said in a statement. “Toonstar’s proven ability to translate beloved stories into engaging animation, while keeping artists at the center of the process, makes them the ideal partner to bring Friendship List and other popular titles to new audiences in formats today’s families love.”

It’s not surprising HarperCollins is taking this route. It was, after all, the first of the Big Five publishers to embrace AI: Back in 2024, it signed a deal to hand over select nonfiction books to AI companies for training their LLMs. Authors received $2,500 per book from that agreement.

HarperCollins’ romance division, Harlequin, also just established a similar partnership with short-form AI animation company Dashverse. PW reports that some authors whose titles were selected for adaptation under that deal said they hadn’t been notified in advance.

As for why HarperCollins picked YouTube as the home for its AI adaptations, that’s also not hard to understand. Google is very into AI, and YouTube is one of the top distributors of short-form content on the net–especially when it comes to TVs.

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After working with the stars of Disney, TikTok, and CoComelon, well-traveled exec Kevin Mayer has his eye on the K-pop industry. The Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Candle Media, who also had a brief stint as the CEO of TikTok, has joined the Board of Directors for the South Korean entertainment company HYBE.

HYBE, which adopted its current name in 2021, was originally known as Big Hit Entertainment. Under that name, it operated as one of South Korea’s most prominent labels. HYBE is best known for creating BTS, the Seoul-based septet that has become the most successful K-pop act of all time.

BTS recently returned from a four-year hiatus with a comeback album called ARIRANG, and the record’s initial numbers on YouTube show that the boy band hasn’t lost a step since its 2010s heyday. In only two weeks, the music video for the track “Swim” has tallied more than 86 million YouTube hits.

There’s no question that BTS is still huge, but the K-pop landscape looks a lot different now than it did when the Bangtan Boys began their hiatus. The U.S.-based group KATSEYE — which was also created by HYBE — has shown that K-pop is no longer just a Korean phenomenon. The American animated film KPop Demon Hunters reinforced that idea. In addition to winning awards and smashing viewership records, the Netflix original brought its characters to the forefront of mainstream culture. Across the most popular channels on YouTube Shorts, Rumi and her bandmates are ubiquitous.

Enter Mayer. The longtime Disney exec only had a brief stint as TikTok’s CEO, but his next move connected him to the world of short-form family content. As the Co-CEO of Blackstone-backed Candle Media, Mayer has led acquisitions of several notable properties, including CoComelon producer Moonbug.

As a member of the HYBE board, Mayer will help guide the company’s strategy as it prepares for a big year. BTS is heading out on tour, and one of the legs will be a spring and summer swing through the United States. That will be a great opportunity to reach the K-pop fans who have supported U.S.-based projects like KATSEYE and Kpop Demon Hunters.

“The joining of key experts from the global platform and media industries to the board is expected to elevate HYBE’s decision-making systems,” reads a statement from HYBE. “Kevin Mayer’s macro-level insights for managing strategic risks in global platform businesses will greatly contribute to HYBE achieving sustainable growth in the global market.”

2025 was a banner year for HYBE, with the firm’s annual revenue reaching approximately $1.86 billion. 2026 has the potential to be even bigger, so don’t be surprised if you start to see Jimin and Jungkook standing next to Rumi in all of those YouTube Shorts videos.

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After closing one of the biggest funding rounds in tech history, OpenAI wasted no time breaking into podcasting. The company known for products like ChatGPT has acquired TBPN, a podcast that treats the Silicon Valley ecosystem like a sports league.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The TBPN team announced on Substack that they will continue operating independently and will retain full editorial control over their show. An “Editorial Independence Covenant” will limit OpenAI’s ability to influence coverage, though the tech giant will help TBPN — which stands for Technology Business Programming Network — scale up and expand its reach.

“Over the past year, we’ve had a front-row seat not just to OpenAI, but to the entire ecosystem, covering the daily news, announcements, and launches in real time,” said TBPN Co-Founder and Co-Host Jordi Hays in a statement appended to the Substack post. “While we’ve been critical of the industry at times, after getting to know [OpenAI CEO Sam Altman] and the OpenAI team, what stood out most was their openness to feedback and commitment to getting this right.”

A show that treats Silicon Valley like SportsCenter may seem like an unlikely acquisition target, especially in the saturated tech podcast market, but TBPN‘s unique approach has proven wildly successful. In 2025, the podcast landed a partnership with the New York Stock Exchange while interviewing high-profile guests like Altman and Mark Zuckerberg. The results included $5 million in annual revenue.

Flash forward to 2026, and TBPN is continuing to rise. It aired a regional Super Bowl ad, and its 2026 revenue was on track to hit $30 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

For OpenAI, ownership of TBPN could prove beneficial across multiple wavelengths. For starters, the podcast can serve as a loudspeaker for the Microsoft-backed firm’s public presence. In that sense, TBPN could function as OpenAI’s version of Twitch’s Patch Notes or YouTube’s Creator Insider.

On a more abstract level, OpenAI can leverage TBPN to balance out recent criticisms of its operations. Its Defense Department contract and the shutdown of video generator Sora have received intense scrutiny. Now, OpenAI is better able to set the record straight.

In a statement, OpenAI CEO of Applications Fidji Simo noted TBPN‘s potential a forum where tech leaders can discuss the future of AI. She called the show a “real-time window into what’s happening in AI,” and if OpenAI can shift public conversation toward the wonders of technological innovation, it will be doing itself a favor.

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YouTuber, animator, and fictional worldbuilder Luke Humphris has raised nearly $400,000 on Kickstarter in just two days thanks to 2,200+ fans gathering to support his first TTRPG.

Called When Society Collapsed: Dam Nation, Humphris’ homebrewed world is designed to be a cozy post-apocalyptic journey that’s light on rules and heavy on team exploration and bonding. Folks who join in the Kickstarter get a 150+ page book explaining the world’s lore, class system (among the choices are Archivist, Librarian, Scavenger, Feral, and “Animal Dude”), and guidelines. Also included on higher tiers ($99+) are props like regional and encounter maps, wooden minifigures, and a pop-up “battle van” that serves as player characters’ mobile hub.

To put all this together, Humphris–who has 557K subscribers on YouTube and is known for his animated shorts and animated series When Society Collapsed and Space Station Weird–partied up with Dungeon in a Box, a subscription company that sends out new Dungeons & Dragons oneshots every month, similarly complete with maps and minis.

DIAB’s minis, in fact, are its hallmark: where most TTRPG minifigures are 3-D and made of PVC, its figures are drawn and printed on sheets of flat acrylic or wood, which cuts manufacturing and shipping costs dramatically. Prior to partnering with Humphris, DIAB ran five successful Kickstarter campaigns, including one for its “Skinny Minis” figures that raised over $1 million.

With Humphris, it’s looking to push further into co-developing projects with TTRPG enthusiast content creators.

“Content is so important in the ongoing TTRPG renaissance,” Hunter Ausfahl, DIAB’s Head of Marketing, tells Tubefilter. “Lots of fans have discovered Dungeons & Dragons through content creators. We initially approached Luke for a smaller project, one of our oneshots. We met with him and completely set it up. But then our founders and I were talking over coffee and decided we loved Luke’s worldbuilding abilities so much we wanted to work with him in a much bigger capacity.”

Ausfahl adds that DIAB recognized “truly genius worldbuilding” in Humphris, “especially given the limitations of YouTube and Instagram Reels. He’s created such incredible stuff and vertical animation that got me and everyone else so excited.”

DIAB decided it would give Humphris free rein to build an entire TTRPG from scratch. This was new ground, as DIAB’s oneshots (even those not set in a fantasy world) run on Dungeons & Dragons‘ 5e system. That means its writers have a foundation to build on, and that subscribers/players can come into a oneshot generally understanding the rules, character classes, character attributes, and dice-rolling procedures.

Humphris, by contrast, had nothing but his own imagination. He’d have to design the world and the gameplay system, and would have to draw all the supporting material. But the tradeoff was that DIAB agreed to handle everything else.

“When they first floated the Kickstarter, my first reaction was, ‘I can contact manufacturers, I can build a Kickstarter page,'” Humphris laughs. “I’ve done that in the past, and I know how much work it is. But being able to focus on nothing but the creative stage was amazing. I just told them my ideas and they were able to source it. I’ve been able to focus on the art, focus on the creative stuff. That’s the dream.”

Those familiar with Humphris’ creative approach probably aren’t surprised by that answer. He’s been uploading his art to YouTube since 2021, and says he originally launched his channel because he was caught in the cycle of trying to pitch an animated TV show to traditional networks.

“I was getting frustrated. I was learning to sell myself better, but not learning how to make things better,” he says. “I got on YouTube as a way to record what I’m doing. I have all these things I want to make, but I don’t have enough time, so I started YouTube out of spite.”

Now, he’s a full-time artist whose YouTube and Patreon revenue is enough to support him–and the whole ‘making art out of spite’ attitude carries over into the bones of Dam Nation, which is based on the bite-sized When Society Collapsed animations he’s been posting over the last couple years.

Humphris describes his TTRPG as “a big sandbox,” kind of equivalent to an open-world video game. “The original animations [for the Dam Nation universe] were my own little power fantasies of sharing media, cooking food, collecting things,” he says. (Dam Nation‘s trailer follows a guy whose response to the apocalypse is to start burning CDs and movies for his neighbors.) “As the game opened up, I just wanted people to be able to explore, find things, and have the power to do what they want. That was the main throughline while I was designing.”

That means Dam Nation‘s story can go in limitless directions, driven by individual dungeon masters and players. The provided plot catalyst that kicks off each instance, however, is the same: Your local river dries up without explanation. What will you do?

Ausfahl says this is just the beginning of DIAB doing longer projects with creators like Humphris. The company partnered with YouTuber Roll for Sandwich on a oneshot last year, and has several upcoming 5e oneshots that were co-developed with other creators.

He credits creator groups like Critical Role and Dimension 20 for the aforementioned TTRPG renaissance we’re in the midst of.

“They have helped spawn a lot of really talented and creative people in the TTRPG content creation space, and being able to find them and meet them and work with them and bring their ideas to life feels like it’s helping build on this community,” he says. “Content creators, whether they’re big or small, have been what’s kept D&D and other RPGs alive. Being able to make these worlds and these adventures, it really is because of them.”

Dam Nation is scheduled to ship out to backers around May 2027. Humphris says now that the writing and artwork is done, he’s “just excited for everyone to see it.”

“I’m used to posting things on the day I make it,” he says. “It’s hard to wait!”

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This year, YouTube‘s coverage of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival is going to look a little bit different. The platform is continuing its 16-year tradition as the primary web video partner of the desert-set gathering, and the 2026 edition of Coachella will give many YouTube users their first look at a new feature called Stations.

Stations, simply put, are YouTube’s take on the always-on channels that populate free, ad-supported TV (FAST) platforms. YouTube’s live streaming technology is powering a 24/7 broadcast filled with features, videos, and performances related to the Indio, California festival.

The Verge noted that YouTube has been quietly testing Stations alongside a group of partners in the music industry, including pop star Bruno Mars. There’s been a trend of top YouTubers expanding their reach by launching dedicated channels on FAST hubs. (Examples include Dhar Mann and Unspeakable.) By making it easier to launch those channels on YouTube, the Google-owned entity is looking to bring more traffic in-house.

It was already possible to launch always-on channels on YouTube, but the Stations feature makes that process more intuitive. “A creator can come onto YouTube, go into our studio product, set up a playlist of videos,” YouTube Senior Product Management Director Kurt Wilms told The Verge. “They click ‘Start Station,’ and we’ll do all the work to start the livestream for them.”

To demonstrate how that technology works, YouTube is using Coachella as its guinea pig. Through its annual coverage of the festival, YouTube has tested product innovations like 360-degree video, original programming, and short-form content. Some other platforms, like Snapchat and BeReal, have run their own Coachella-set experiments.

Right now, the Coachella Station is limited to behind-the-scenes features, but once the festival begins, the coverage will ramp up. According to a blog post, YouTube’s Coachella streams will be spread across seven stages. That’s a lot of music, but thanks to the new always-on Station, you don’t have to miss any of it.

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Yet another digital media company is riding the podcast wave. This time, beehiiv is the platform making moves: The newsletter hub and website builder has announced that it will let its users host, distribute, and monetize podcasts.

Late last month, Semafor reported that beehiiv was reaching out to independent podcasters who were partnered with rival platforms like Substack and Patreon. Those creators were being recruited for a podcast program that will fit into beehiiv’s growing arsenal of services and revenue streams.

A few days later, beehiiv confirmed its podcast push. The first slate of shows to be hosted through the platform includes Avni Barman‘s Genshe, Brian Morrissey‘s The Rebooting, and Dr. Katelyn Jetelina‘s The Most Important Question.

A podcast boom that began in the early 2020s shows no signs of slowing down in 2026. YouTube has rolled out new ad formats for its podcast library, and Apple has made a bold move into the world of video podcasts. Recent findings from Edison Research explain why media companies are so eager to get into podcasts. The firm’s Infinite Dial report found that four out of five Americans have either listened to or watched one of those shows.

With so many players already active in the field, there’s not much room for beehiiv to elbow its way in, but the platform boasts a few advantages that have helped it appeal to its early partners. For starters, beehiiv won’t take a cut of the revenue generated by the podcasts it hosts. Instead, according to Semafor, the plan is to charge creators a flat fee and give them full control of their future earnings.

Creators will also be able to integrate podcasts into other beehiiv products. The current crop of beehiiv newsletters (including our own Tubefilter newsletter) reaches more than 15,000 paid subscribers, and exclusive podcast access can now be bundled with those newsletter subscriptions. In addition, beehiiv operates as a website builder, and it is giving its podcast partners customizable webpages for their shows, pulling traffic away from third-party hubs like Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.

Versatility is a valuable asset in the crowded podcast space. That’s one reason why Spotify is such a powerful force when it comes to podcast hosting. The Stockholm-based platform hosts more than half of all global podcasts. Those creators get access to a huge streaming audience and a sophisticated monetization program, so Spotify’s pitch is hard to beat.

Tyler Denk, the CEO of beehiiv, believes that his company’s prowess in the newsletter space could help it attract podcasters who are eager to branch out into other formats. “We believe a newsletter should be a core piece of infrastructure for any podcast,” Denk told TechCrunch. “It’s how you own your audience, expand distribution, and create more real estate for advertisers. Podcasters who want to launch a newsletter will find a natural home here. Growth is one of the biggest challenges in podcasting. Newsletters drive podcast downloads. Podcasts drive newsletter signups. The two reinforce each other, and right now creators are managing that across fragmented tools. We’re fixing that.”

That multi-pronged approach is making beehiiv a compelling choice for thousands of creators. The platform has venture capital funding and a top creator lineup on its side, so it’s well equipped to continue turning itself into a one-stop shop for digital professionals.

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Millions of people already use TikTok to seek financial advice. Now, the app may be taking its money moves to the next level.

According to a report from Reuters, TikTok applied for two interesting licenses in Brazil. The first would allow it to operate as an “electronic money issuer,” a la Venmo. Users would be able to obtain prepaid accounts they could use to make and receive payments on the app.

The second license would position TikTok as a “direct credit company.” That wouldn’t exactly turn the app into a traditional bank, since it wouldn’t be able to accept public deposits, but it would be able to lend capital and connect borrowers to lenders. Reuters compared TikTok’s potential financial services to those offered by Nubank, which has become Brazil’s largest digital bank.

Neither TikTok nor Brazil’s central bank responded to Reuters‘ request for comment, but the app has a track record of testing new products in Brazil before launching them in other regions. Most notably, Brazil was one of the first countries to gain access to the since-shuttered TikTok Music service.

For TikTok, a move into financial services would make a lot of sense. The app is already one of Gen Z’s favorite sources for financial advice, and the #FinTok hashtag has been used on more than 150,000 videos. When you also consider how much money moves through TikTok each day, there’s a palpable opportunity to put those funds to work.

TikTok is not the only social media entity moving into the territory that has traditionally been dominated by brick-and-mortar banks. MrBeast is making a notable play in that area. With his acquisition of Step, he has signaled that he wants to help his Gen Z fans manage their income.

Gen Z is a core audience for TikTok, too, but will those users trust the app as an accredited lender? TikTok’s archive of fiscal advice isn’t always sound, but a financial services push has significant long-term potential. Depending on what happens with TikTok’s license applications, we’ll be keeping an eye on what happens next in Brazil.

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Just a few weeks after a New York Times investigation found that YouTube’s algorithm is pushing AI-generated content targeting toddlers and preschoolers, 200 hundred organizations and experts have sent an open letter to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, asking them to crack down on AI kidslop.

The letter stems from children’s advocacy group Fairplay, and expresses “serious concern” about the propagation of AI videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids. Among its signees are 135 organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers and the American Counseling Association, plus individuals like child psychiatrists, educators, and more.

These organizations and experts say generated slop “harms children’s development by distorting their sense of reality, overwhelming their learning processes and hijacking their attention, thereby extending time online and displacing offline activities necessary for their healthy development.”

They also cite video elements that are seen beyond AI-generated content–things like loud voices, bright-colors, fast pacing, and clickbait titles, all of which are designed to keep viewers’ attention, and are commonplace in this era of MrBeastification.

“These harms are particularly acute for young children,” the letter reads.

Rachel Franz, the Director of Fairplay’s Young Children Thrive Offline program, said YouTube and YouTube Kids are “designed to maximize children’s time online,” and that YouTube’s recommendation algorithm “[p]ushing AI slop onto young children is just another testament [to that].”

“AI slop hypnotizes young children, making it hard for them to get off their screens and move onto essential activities like play, sleep and social interaction,” she added. “What’s more, YouTube’s algorithm makes it impossible for kids to avoid AI slop.”

Her allegation is backed by stats beyond the NYT‘s report: Last December, video editing company Kapwing found that more than 20% of videos shown to new users are low-quality AI slop.

What’s also interesting to note is that almost exactly a year ago, YouTube formed a coalition with nearly 20 kids’ content creators and distribution companies, including Pinkfong, WildBrain, The Wiggles, and Cocomelon owner Moonbug, that was specifically aimed at liming the spread of low-quality content on YouTube and beyond.

Fairplay and signees are asking YouTube to mitigate potential harm in a few ways:

• Clearly label all AI-generated content
• Ban all AI-generated content from YouTube Kids
• Ban all AI-generated content from being recommended to users under 18, even on YouTube’s main site
• Give parents an option to turn off AI-generated content, even if their child searches for it

That first bullet point requires a little more context. You’ve probably seen AI labels on YouTube–but those labels are only required if the video “makes a real person appear to say or do something they didn’t do,” “alters footage of a real event or place,” and/or “generates a realistic-looking scene that didn’t actually occur,” per YouTube’s current TOS.

Footage that is completely fake but doesn’t break those three rules does not need to be labeled as AI-generated.

Google spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle told the Associated Press that YouTube has “high standards for content in YouTube Kids, including limiting AI-generated content in the app to a small set of high-quality channels.”

He also said that parents already have “the option to block channels.”

“Across YouTube, we prioritize transparency when it comes to AI content, labeling content from our own AI tools, and requiring creators to disclose realistic AI content,” he added. “We’re always evolving our approach to stay current as the ecosystem evolves.”

YouTube said it is actively working on developing AI labels for YouTube Kids, per the AP. It’s not clear how effective those labels will be for kids who can’t read.

YouTube is in a complicated position here. Google, like other big tech company/social media platform hybrids, has gone whole-hog on generative AI, and is hoping to make a boatload of cash on the bandwagon. But the same tools it’s developing and endorsing are enabling prompters to clog its platform with garbage, crowding out human creators and seemingly edging us in the direction of an AI Elsagate.

How do you have one without the other? That’s the problem YouTube now has to solve.

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Music consumption is fractured across multiple social media hubs. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music lead the way in terms of listening traffic, TikTok brands itself as a driver of pop music culture, and YouTube offers unbeatable reach thanks to formats like Shorts.

What about Instagram? The Meta-owned app has a unique relationship with music fans, and a fresh set of data explains what that connection looks like. According to a study conducted by Meta and Luminate, Instagram is the go-to platform for so-called “superfans,” whose combination of passionate consumption and disposable income makes them a powerful audience.

Meta and Luminate defined superfans as consumers who “pull five of 13 different engagement levers with an artist.” Examples of those levers include concert attendance, support on Patreon, and word-of-mouth ambassadorship.

According to the study, the highest concentration of those superfans can be found on Instagram. Among a “base audience” of consumers who use social media and listen to music, Instagram boasts a 38% engagement rate. When only the superfan data is considered, that rate jumps to 58%. That’s the largest percentage increase among all measured platforms.

Meta is not just claiming that Instagram’s music consumers are fervent. The tech giant is also arguing that its audience spends freely on concerts and other live experiences. 45% of the app’s “daily music engagers” attended at least one live event over the past year, and 25% of that group attended three or more shows. Both of those percentages were higher than the equivalent figures on YouTube and TikTok.

That data point is particularly relevant to Instagram’s marketing plans. Meta was one of several presenters that used its 2026 NewFronts pitch to promote ad formats that put brands at the center of big cultural moments. A popular tour or album release is a perfect example of the kind of tentpole Meta is talking about, and positioning Instagram as the go-to platform for that form of engagement demonstrates the potential of the newly announced ad products.

As an example, Meta and Luminate’s report used Alex Warren as a case study. The singer-songwriter delivered one of 2025’s biggest hits with “Ordinary,” but the track didn’t fully take off until Warren launched Instagram activations in March of that year. Three months after Warren made that move, “Ordinary” saw its streaming traffic double, and the song reached #1 on the Billboard charts.

A study conducted on Meta’s behalf may not convince marketers to shift budgets away from YouTube and TikTok, but the company formerly known as Facebook doesn’t think that music activations need to be a zero-sum game. The study claims that 18% of the base audience engages with music content on Instagram but not TikTok, and 13% engage on TikTok but not Instagram. Therefore, the most effective campaigns will span multiple platforms, and Meta is making sure that marketers know where Instagram’s specialties lie.

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