In February, the world’s top YouTuber, MrBeast, expressed concerns about the future of content creators due to the rise of AI-generated videos after announcing a significant funding round.

He recently posted a message on his X account describing these as “scary times” for the millions of people who earn their living from online content…

Challenging Times Ahead for Online Creators?

With over 634 million subscribers and $85 million in earnings in 2025 according to Forbes, MrBeast is not an ordinary creator, and his opinions have a significant impact across the industry.

In his post on X, he pondered the future of YouTube when AI-generated videos match the quality of real ones.

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This concern came shortly after the launch of Sora 2, OpenAI’s new app that can generate videos from simple text. This app, mimicking TikTok’s format, quickly climbed to the top of the American App Store, demonstrating both public excitement for automated creation and rising apprehension among industry professionals.

On YouTube, AI tools are also proliferating, including the recently released “Labs” tool, which promises to roll out new features regularly.

A Deep-Rooted Debate Within the Content Creator Community

MrBeast’s concern is not surprising, especially since he himself experimented with AI last summer, launching an automatic thumbnail generation tool on his platform Viewstats.

However, due to dissatisfaction from his community, he quickly removed this feature and instead offered a list of artists for collaboration.

Despite his reservations, his company Beast Philanthropy has invested in several AI-related projects, including in healthcare in Africa with Light AI Health.

The broader debate about AI’s role in audiovisual creation is polarizing the community. Some, like YouTuber Cyprien Iov, argue that “being against AI is like being against the internet.” Others, like Nota Bene, warn of the potential job precarity in artistic creation fields and the loss of human connection at the heart of these contents.

As AI tools become capable of producing videos indistinguishable from those made by humans, creators are questioning: how can they remain visible, authentic, and profitable in an ecosystem where machines can do everything faster and cheaper?