It’s Thursday, and McDonald’s is experimenting with adding sponsored content to its digital menus. Forget fries—do you want ads with that?

TUBE TALK

The creator perks: On September 23, YouTube held its annual Made On event in New York City. As expected, that presentation included a flurry of announcements regarding YouTube’s plans to introduce more AI-powered personalization and optimization tools.

For starters, the platform is expanding A/B tests (which already allow creators to pit multiple titles and thumbnails against each other) to entire videos. By A/B testing multiple cuts of the same clip, creators can identify the version that best resonates with their audience.

The introduction of dynamic thumbnails will similarly facilitate optimization. By automatically switching between multiple preview images, YouTube aims to maximize reach among specific audience segments.

The recs: If you think AI-powered optimization and personalization is already ubiquitous on YouTube, just wait. For social shoppers, an expanded Ask YouTube feature will turn questions and follow-ups into interactive product recommendations that show up across TV and mobile surfaces.

Recs are being expanded in other areas, too. YouTube is building personalized podcast lineups to reflect each listener’s tastes, while Custom Feeds will turn users’ suggestions into fully populated landing pages. In other words, YouTube’s homepage shelves will now deliver Netflix-style recommendations—and the platform’s copycat approach doesn’t stop there.

The copycat tools: YouTube is also bringing Ask Music (aka its take on the Spotify DJ) to the YouTube Music app and echoing TikTok’s efforts to monetize serialized short-form collections by introducing Shorts Series. The sequential short-form playlists will build on YouTube’s current microdrama momentum, which includes more than six billion views.

And to make its own Vertical Live streams as functional as their TikTok analogues, YouTube is introducing several new broadcast options. Go Live Together will enable co-hosting on those streams, Live showdowns will turn them into collaborative fundraisers, and Live auto-dubbing will bring streaming content to viewers across the globe.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

MOVERS & SHAKERS

The new hires: Since co-founding Patreon alongside Jack Conte more than 13 years ago, Sam Yam has played a key leadership role at the creator funding platform. Now, he’s moving on—and as he departs, he’s taking two of his colleagues with him.

Yam has accepted an offer to lead the new Creator Product division at OpenAI, where he’ll seek to build an ecosystem that makes offerings like ChatGPT work harder for creators. He’ll be joined at Sam Altman’s company by Drew Rowny, a Google vet who was Patreon’s SVP of Product, and Shannon Ma, a former Facebooker who served as Patreon’s engineering head.

The context: The trio arrives during a challenging period for OpenAI. According to a recent report from Comscore, ChatGPT is ceding ground to its competitors when it comes to overall U.S. usage. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s plan to become a trusted studio partner in Hollywood has been waylaid by intense backlash from artists and the shuttering of video generation model Sora.

If the traditional entertainment industry won’t be its friend, OpenAI seems to hope the creator community can fill that void. For the makers of AI chatbots, creator partnerships can add value in the form of answer engine optimization. That’s one reason why Google Gemini entered into a multi-year agreement with MrBeast.

OpenAI has similarly dipped its toes into the creator economy—most recently with the acquisition of the “Silicon Valley SportsCenter” known as TBPN—but is still facing staunch resistance from creators who see genAI as a threat to their livelihood.

That’s where Yam comes in. As Patreon’s CTO, the exec led the development of creator economy tools that have spurred significant payouts. In a tweet, Yam said upcoming OpenAI creator products will be teased at the company’s annual DevDay, which is set to take place on September 29.

SPORTS SPHERE

The league: Since launching in 2023, the creator-led Kings League has delighted fans by pitting squads against each other in a wacky form of soccer defined by eccentric rules. The first Kings League season ended with a match that filled up F.C. Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium, drawing a 90,000-person crowd.

The Kings League has since built on its success by establishing a women’s competition and bringing its signature format beyond Spain. Now, it wants a bigger piece of the Brazilian audience—so it’s hiring an experienced Managing Director who can lead it into that market.

The new hire: Anadege Freitas, the former Director of Content and Partnerships at Twitch, has taken an executive role at the Kings League. Freitas will link up with the League’s leaders—a group that includes Spanish chart-toppers Ibai and TheGrefg and soccer stars Gerard Piqué and Iker Casillas—to expand operations in Brazil and beyond.

The Brazilian version of the Kings League kicked off in 2025 and involves a mix of popular local streamers and football icons, including Gaules, Nobru, Neymar, and Kaká. Freitas, who worked at gaming companies like Nintendo, Hasbro, and Activision Blizzard before spending four years at Twitch, will attempt to amp up the league’s presence in Brazil’s booming creator economy.

YouTube viewership has been particularly high for Brazil’s soccer creators, especially during the World Cup year of 2026. The biggest winner in that category has been Casimiro Miguel’s CazéTV, which shattered multiple YouTube viewership records by offering live match coverage during FIFA’s global tournament.

Months later, the Kings League is perfectly positioned to ride the wave of creator-led soccer broadcasts sparked by CazéTV and parent company LiveMode.

WATCH THIS 👀

The Dude: Yianni Mavrakis’ Instagram account had already picked up steam in recent months thanks to his purchase of a historic bowling alley. But when a mysterious tuxedo cat made his presence known in the building—and repeatedly evaded capture—viewers were instantly hooked.

Millions of fans flooded in to watch videos of Mavrakis’ attempts to ingratiate himself with the alley cat, who he affectionately dubbed “The Dude.”

Mavrakis has since announced his decision to bring The Dude home with him, but we’re guessing it won’t be long before the wily feline finds his way back on-screen—if not back at the bowling alley.

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