YouTube Terminates Two Channels for AI Fake Trailers

YouTube has terminated two major channels that produced fake movie trailers using artificial intelligence, removing content that had garnered more than two million subscribers and over one billion views. The platforms, Screen Culture based in India and KH Studio based in Georgia in the United States, were shut down for repeatedly violating policies on spam and misleading metadata, according to a YouTube spokesperson.

The channels specialized in creating teaser videos for upcoming films and television shows, often blending AI-generated imagery with clips from official footage. This approach tricked viewers into believing the trailers were authentic, sometimes outranking real promotional material in search results. For instance, Screen Culture released 23 versions of a trailer for the upcoming film The Fantastic Four: First Steps by March, with several appearing higher in YouTube searches than the official version. Similar fake trailers targeted projects like the Superman movie, HBO's Harry Potter series, Netflix's Wednesday, and the reality show Squid Game.

YouTube first took action earlier this year by suspending the channels from its Partner Program and halting their ad...