YouTube says it has paid creators more than $100 billion over last 4 years

YouTube said on Tuesday it has paid out over $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies since 2021.

The surge has been fueled in part by growing viewership on connected TVs. The number of channels making more than $100,000 from TV screens jumped 45% year over year, the company said.

YouTube Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich praised the power of creators to "shape culture and entertainment in ways we never thought possible" in a release announcing the benchmark and a series of other new features.

The milestone comes as the Google-owned platform marks its 20th year and pushes to cement itself as one of the world's most lucrative media businesses.

YouTube unveiled the updated payout figure and a slate of new creator tools at its annual Made on YouTube event in New York City.

The company announced new artificial intelligence tools for YouTube Shorts, its short-form vertical video product. Creators will be able to turn raw footage into edited clips with AI and can add music, transitions and voiceover.

New features also include the ability to turn dialogue from eligible videos into a song to be used in the Short.

Google's latest AI video generator, Veo 3, will also be integrated into Shorts, YouTube said.

Google uses a subset of YouTube videos to train Veo 3, to the surprise of many YouTube creators, CNBC reported in June.

YouTube turned 20 years old in April and announced it hosted over 20 billion videos on the platform, including music, Shorts, podcasts and more.

Last year, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said the company had paid $70 billion to creators between 2021 and 2024.