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It’s Tuesday and Sora has arrived. Will OpenAI’s long-awaited AI text-to-video generator define 2025 the way ChatGPT dominated 2023?

Today’s News

DOOMSDAY PREP

U.S. TikTokers are preparing for a ban by promoting their YouTube and Instagram channels

The creator response: Creators are preparing for the possibility that TikTok could be banned as early as next month. In the wake of a U.S. Appeals Court decision upholding the ban-or-divest law—which is set to go into effect in January—some creators have urged their followers to find them on U.S.-based platforms like YouTube and Instagram.

The biz response: Other brands and creators are waiting to see if the Supreme Court will step in. TikTok Shop consultant Sarah Jannetti told Reuters she advised her clients to forgo any drastic changes “until they see something that’s more concrete.”

TikTok has already asked for an injunction that would delay the enforcement of the law and give the Supreme Court time to consider it. If that motion is granted, TikTok might be able to solicit help from the Trump Administration (which reportedly wants to keep TikTok around, although the president-elect’s latest comments have been less-than-committal).

The options: Even if the law does go through in January, creators might not necessarily be facing a ban. TikTok parent ByteDance could instead allow a U.S.-based entity to take control of TikTok (or at least its American operations) through a divesture. Frank McCourt (aka the billionaire behind Project Liberty) is already assembling a consortium of investors to make a run at a TikTok acquisition, despite the Chinese government signaling no such divestiture will ever happen.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Spotter Studio is giving away $25,000 to YouTube Creators like you

Spotter Studio is celebrating the holidays with a creator giveaway. Right now, all Spotter Studio members can enter for a chance to win thousands in cash prizes.

Once creator will win a grand prize of $20,000. Five others will receive $1,000 each.

Plus, all six winners will be awarded 1 year of Spotter Studio membership. It's easy to enter, with no purchase necessary. Here’s how it works:

That giveaway isn’t the only reason to sign up for a Spotter Studio membership.

In addition to accessing next-level AI-powered video ideation tools, Spotter Studio members gain access to exclusive Creator Webinars and bonuses of $100 for every friend you refer (friends get $100 upon joining, too!).

Entry for the holiday giveaway closes on December 31, 2024, so kickstart your Spotter Studio membership today:

Sign up for a chance to win →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• With three weeks left in the 2024 calendar year, MrBeast is about to become the first YouTuber with more than 340 million subscribers. (Tubefilter)
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• A proposed California bill would require major social media platforms to display warning labels related to mental health impacts. (Engadget)
  
  

• Will Reddit’s new AI-powered search feature and summaries put it in competition with engines like Google Search? (Ars Technica)
  
  

• An open letter signed by musicians like Tegan & Sara urges major record labels to drop their “unjust lawsuit targeting the Internet Archive.” (Engadget)

DATA • GOSPEL STATS 📈

Top Branded Videos: Ronaldo, space selfies, and 3D-printed robots

It’s a tough week for rival creators when icons like MrBeast and Cristiano Ronaldo join forces. The duo’s latest collab topped Gospel Stats’ weekly branded YouTube ranking with more 130 million views, while its closest competitor peaked at just over 8 million.

🥇 #1. MrBeast x Yahoo Sports: Beat Ronaldo, Win $1,000,000 (137M views)
The brightest stars in soccer and social media collided in MrBeast’s latest for-cash competition, a 22-minute video featuring both sports icon Ronaldo and a $10K Yahoo Sports giveaway. That upload followed Ronaldo’s own “internet-breaking” video documenting his and MrBeast’s meetup, which has nabbed nearly 54 million views since hitting YouTube on November 21.

🥈 #2. Mark Rober x T-Mobile: My New Satellite Can Take Your Selfie From Space (8.3M views)
T-Mobile has regularly sponsored YouTube-exclusive livestreams of Saturday Night Live over the last few weeks, but its latest YouTube-native partnership goes way beyond New York. The telecom recently threw its financial weight behind a video introducing Mark Rober’s SATGUS, a satellite that will take selfies of Crunchlabs subscribers from space starting next month.

🔎 #2,393. How To Mechatronics x Onshape: Making a BEAST of a 3D Printed RC Tank with Dual Speed Gearbox (30.9K views)
SATGUS was far from the only STEM innovation in Gospel’s branded ranking. There were more sponsored videos published on YouTube this week than any week we’ve tracked previously—and tech channels were well-represented. In a video sponsored by product dev platform Onshape, for instance, How To Mechatronics showed off a RC tank that easily churns over rough terrain.

Check out the full branded ranking here or head over to Gospel Stats for more YouTube sponsorship insights.

FELINE FURY

Twitch is facing backlash over its new AI-generated emote

The shift: Three months ago, Twitch declined to renew the usage contract for one of its most popular OG emotes: BibleThump. At the time, we wondered if the platform was trying to tighten its belt overall and licensing fees for emotes got caught in the sqeueeze—especially since its parent company, Amazon, is reportedly growing frustrated with Twitch's non-existent profits.

The emote: Then, late last week, Twitch introduced “CatintheChat”: a new universal emote that appears to be AI-generated and is meant to reward streamers who co-stream for at least 15 minutes with merged chats turned on.

That reveal was met with immediate backlash from creators, with many questioning why Twitch chose to use AI instead of hiring one of the artists who stream on its platform. Some expressed anger that the platform was willing to profit from creators but drew the line at paying them to design emotes.

One commenter, for instance, seemingly brought up Kai Cenat‘s recent subathon, which closed with an estimated $3.6 million in total earnings. If Cenat has a 70/30 revenue split, then Twitch potentially made just over $1 million from his subathon alone. (For context, that’s 1/667th of the ad revenue it made in all of 2023.)

The context: Twitch hasn’t yet confirmed whether CatintheChat was made with AI—but so far, things aren’t looking good from a PR standpoint. While rival platforms like YouTube have similarly leveraged AI, they’ve been careful to emphasize that those offerings are meant to support creators, not supplant them.

In this case, however, it’s a clear example of replacement. Twitch used to pay artists to make emotes. This time, it didn’t

WATCH THIS 📺

Culinary comedy is heating up on YouTube Shorts

The chef: Food content is a vast and varied genre on Shorts, but most channels fit into two main groups: those that inject humor into the culinary arts, and others that take a more straight-faced approach. Albert Can Cook falls into the former category.

Despite his high-end pedigree, the creator forsakes classy gastronomy to dream up ridiculous foodstuffs alongside friends like Chef Rush and QCP.

The video: The results are as entertaining as they are delicious—although amateur cooks might want to look elsewhere for practical instructions. (Unless, of course, you happen to have a giant knife and a five-foot tuna. In that case, this video is definitely for you.)

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.