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It’s Wednesday and live voting is coming to Netflix. Can you handle the responsibility of influencing who stays and who goes on Star Search?

Today’s News

PLATFORM UPDATES

Neal Mohan's 2026 letter reveals YouTube’s plans for AI and a challenge to TikTok Shop

The letter: Neal Mohan's 2026 letter to creators has arrived—and in a lot of ways, it’s not too different from 2025’s.

As he did last year, the YouTube CEO hyped both the platform’s position as the #1 most-watched streaming service in the U.S. (now for the past three years) and its economic contributions. He specified that (over the past four years) YouTube has paid out over $100 billion in earnings to creators, artists, and media companies. In 2024, it contributed $55 billion to the U.S. GDP and supported over 490,000 full-time jobs in the states.

Mohan also reiterated praise for creators like Alan Chikin Chow and Dhar Mann, who have opened their own studios to produce content that the exec described as "beautifully produced, must-see TV."

That wording makes it clear that Mohan is positioning YouTube as the sort of premium viewing destination that can compete with Netflix—but YouTube also has another competitor in its crosshairs. Mohan noted that the platform is "focused on" becoming a "premier shopping destination" where viewers can buy products recommended by creators, without ever leaving the YouTube app. (Should TikTok Shop be worried?)

The AI angle: The real meat of Mohan’s letter, however, centered on AI. The CEO wrote that over one million channels used YouTube's AI "creation tools" every day in December. That same month, more than 20 million people used its ChatGPT-style ask tool.

In 2026, YouTube plans to introduce additional gen AI tools that will allow users to generate games with text prompts, create Shorts using their own likeness, and "experiment with music.”

Mohan also emphasized that the platform is “actively building” on both “established systems that have been very successful in combatting spam and clickbait” and on the “foundation of Content ID…to equip creators with new tools to manage the use of their likeness in AI-generated content.”

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Clipping changed the content game last year. In 2026, it’s here to stay.

In 2025, top creators and brands achieved unprecedented growth by transforming long-form content into short-form clips. Shorts channels climbed the YouTube charts, audiences discovered new podcasts through TikTok clips, and sports orgs snagged millions of views with gameday highlights. 

The problem: brands and creators like Hulu and Zach Justice were spending tens of thousands of dollars just to keep up with clipping.

Then OpusSearch turned the system on its head.

OpusSearch uses cutting-edge AI technology to democratize short-form content creation—making it accessible to all creators and brands. The tool works in seconds, automatically finding, clipping, and polishing the best moments from your entire content catalogue. 

The result: creators and brands no longer have to burn themselves out (or burn cash) to keep up with the short-form wave. 

By switching from clipping agencies to OpusClip, Zach Justice scored 10M+ views and reached 67% more viewers in just 30 days—all while saving thousands of dollars. Now, as the calendar turns over to 2026, it’s your turn to break into clipping.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Couple channels snagged three of the top five spots in this week’s Top 50 Most-Viewed YouTube chart, with Jasmin and James leading the pack at 2.43 billion views. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix announced yesterday that they have “amended their definitive agreement for Netflix’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. to an all-cash transaction.” (Warner Bros. Discovery)
  
  

• OpenAI says it is “rolling out age prediction on ChatGPT consumer plans to help determine whether an account likely belongs to someone under 18.” (OpenAI)
  
  

• X has open sourced its algorithm, which it says relies on a “Grok-based transformer” to “learn relevance from user engagement sequences.” (TechCrunch)

THAT’S SHOW BIZ

Will Alan Chikin Chow deliver Netflix’s next K-pop hit?

The series: As Netflix capitalizes on its recent K-pop success, the streamer is teaming up with a creator who reaches nearly 100 million subscribers on YouTube. Alan Chikin Chow is joining forces with HYBE America and Netflix to develop a project that will include the launch of a brand new K-pop act.

HYBE—aka the entertainment company that incubated BTS—previously announced its plan to partner with Chow on the development of a new outfit of K-pop hitmakers. Now, Netflix is coming aboard to distribute a series that “will follow a misfit crew of aspiring pop idol rejects enrolled in an arts academy who come together to form a co-ed band.”

In a move reminiscent of old-school Disney Channel originals, the stars of the show will launch music alongside their appearances. The result, according to HYBE America President of Film and Television James Shin, will be a “culture-defining model for how pop groups are created.”

The context: By working with Chow and HYBE, Netflix will unite two trends that helped define it during the 2025 calendar year. One of those threads, of course, is K-pop. Kpop Demon Hunters was undoubtedly the biggest Netflix original of the calendar year, scoring rare award recognition and topping the Billboard charts.

Netflix also made headlines in 2025 by making moves to poach some of YouTube’s top creators and podcasts. Now, the streamer is going into business with a YouTube chart topper who is itching to develop an entertainment empire of his own. Chow has taken inspiration from Korean dramas for his series Alan’s Universe, and he has opened a sprawling studio space to facilitate the production of those videos.

A Netflix original will help the creator cultivate more cultural cachet, while his viral success on YouTube Shorts will ensure that Netflix and HYBE’s new Kpop act reaches its target audience on social media.

CREATOR COMMOTION

Meet Sofiyat Ibrahim, the girl who smiles

The journey: Growing up as a girl is difficult. Growing up as an “odd” girl is even harder. But for Sofiyat Ibrahim—who has joyfully branded herself as “The Oddity”—it’s also a source of pride.

Ibrahim first became active on social media after moving from her home country, Nigeria, to the U.S. in 2014. At the time, she was both recovering from a traumatic experience and grappling with the major change in her social environment.

Ibrahim figured connecting with other people would help her adjust. So, she launched her first blog, TheOdditty.com, and “slowly transitioned into fashion content while still in school and navigating life as an immigrant.”

Then COVID hit. Like many creators, Ibrahim embraced short-form video while in quarantine. Her first viral video earned her a devoted fanbase on Twitter, where she currently has over 200,000 followers. The momentum from that clip, she says, “carried over to both Instagram and TikTok.”

As her audience grew, Ibrahim began thinking more intentionally about long-form content—particularly on YouTube. That shift led her to work with Spotter, whose team helped her bring more structure to ideation, strategy, and sustainable channel growth.

Now, Ibrahim has close to half a million followers on each platform (plus another 250,000 on YouTube) and has partnered with major brands like Apple, Amazon, Delta, Savage x Fenty, Whole Foods, Lancôme, and General Mills. She’s also in the midst of developing a new YouTube channel, which she says is “inspired by challenge-style content—similar to the Try Guys—but from a Muslim perspective.”

The impact: For Ibrahim, this journey is about far more than follower counts. Her audience encourages her to embrace her true personality, and she’s also using her platform to advocate for girls like her.

In 2024, for instance, Ibraham was a key voice in the United Nations’ Unstoppable Africa initiative, which brings together thousands of participants (including heads of state, Fortune 500 execs, entrepreneurs, and creators) to celebrate Africa’s advancements and arts, and discuss “trade and investment opportunities in Africa and the world.”

FYI: Spotter is a Tubefilter partner.

WATCH THIS 👀

Content aggregators are leading a Brazilian invasion on YouTube Shorts

The content aggregator: This week’s Top 50 Most Subscribed chart highlights the power of Brazilian YouTube Shorts creators. Among the 50 hubs that claimed the most subscribers during the third week of January, five hail from South America’s primary Portuguese-speaking nation.

In the past, high-level trends related to Christianity and soccer have pulled Brazilian creators into the Top 50—but this week’s results are different. Instead of God or goals, it was content aggregation that pushed Brazilian content creators to the top.

Take Ryan Samuel: the second-highest ranking Brazilian in the Global Sub Top 50 has attracted nearly 5.2 billion lifetime views by overdubbing oddly satisfying content slop with commentary and gamified elements. To set himself apart from other aggregators (and appeal to local viewers), he adds a Brazilian spin to his content.

In one video, for example, he comments on a cake that looks like a Brazilian croquette. That clip alone has drawn over 20 million views, and helped Samuel attract 390,000 new subscribers during our latest seven-day measurement period.

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