YouTube has permanently shut down two major channels that used artificial intelligence to produce fake movie trailers, Baltimore Chronicle reports with reference to Deadline. The affected channels, Screen Culture and KH Studio, collectively had more than 2 million subscribers and over a billion views before their removal.
The Google-owned video platform replaced both channels with the message: “This page isn’t available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else.” Screen Culture, based in India, and KH Studio, based in Georgia, were contacted for comment but did not respond.
Earlier this year, YouTube had suspended advertising on both channels after a Deadline investigation revealed a surge in AI-generated fake movie trailers across the platform. The channels later regained monetization after labeling videos as “fan trailer,” “parody,” or “concept trailer.” However, in recent months, those disclaimers were removed, raising concerns within the fan trailer community.
YouTube stated that the channels’ return to previous practices violated its policies on spam and misleading metadata, which led to their termination. The move was described by one YouTuber as the defeat of “the monster” in the AI trailer space.
Investigation findings showed that Screen Culture combined official film footage with AI-generated images to create franchise trailers that misled viewers. The channel’s founder, Nikhil P. Chaudhari, explained that his team of twelve editors manipulated YouTube’s algorithm by releasing fake trailers early and iterating continuously. By March, Screen Culture had released 23 versions of a trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, some outperforming the official trailer in search results. Other recent examples included HBO’s new Harry Potter series and Netflix’s Wednesday.
Research revealed that instead of enforcing copyright protections, certain Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony, requested YouTube to redirect ad revenue from AI-heavy videos to themselves. The studios declined to comment on the practice.
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