At its Made On YouTube event, YouTube announced a broad set of community and monetization features. The most widely covered is custom feeds: users in the US will soon be able to describe a desired feed in natural language, and Gemini will generate it on web, mobile, and TV. The move gives viewers a way to steer the algorithm toward specific moods or interests rather than relying on the default front page.
On the creator side, TechCrunch reports that YouTube is expanding Channel Memberships with paid, members-only communities, and adding "Hype with Jewels," a paid extension of the Hype feature that lets fans boost smaller creators' videos. YouTube says viewers have hyped videos over 1 billion times. These moves reflect a broader push to make fandom a revenue stream beyond advertising.
Comments are also getting upgrades: GIFs in comments globally on mobile this fall, and voice-based commenting on TV. YouTube is experimenting with personalized moderation tools for creators. Engadget adds other features like episodic Shorts, shopping-oriented Ask YouTube, and Music updates. The sources differ in emphasis—TechCrunch leads with monetization, while Engadget and WIRED focus on feed control—but all agree the event was heavy on community and AI features.