YouTube has removed 16 high-profile AI-generated “spam” channels that collectively amassed more than 4.7 billion lifetime views and over 35 million subscribers, according to an updated report from online video platform Kapwing.

The deletions mark one of the largest visible crackdowns to date on low-quality, mass-produced AI content on the platform.

Kapwing first identified the channels in a November 2025 report that ranked the 100 most-subscribed AI-driven “slop” accounts, many of which relied on automated voiceovers, recycled visuals, and repetitive themes. Since then, 16 of those channels have either been fully removed or had all their videos wiped. Together, the deleted accounts were estimated to generate around $10 million in annual revenue.

Among the channels affected were several popular automated content hubs spanning animated knockoffs, religious storytelling loops, and viral-style compilations. Some accounts remain on YouTube but no longer host any public videos, suggesting targeted content purges rather than simple demonetization.

According to Kapwing, YouTube appears to be relying on its existing spam and low-quality content detection systems rather than announcing a brand-new enforcement tool. Earlier this month, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said the company was expanding efforts to reduce repetitive, low-effort AI uploads that resemble spam or clickbait.

Despite the removals, YouTube continues to invest heavily in creator-facing AI tools. Upcoming features include AI-assisted video editing, generative Shorts content, and automatic song creation from spoken dialogue.

The move highlights YouTube’s balancing act: curbing exploitative AI spam while still promoting legitimate AI-powered creativity. For creators, it signals stricter enforcement against automated bulk uploads, while viewers may see fewer repetitive, low-quality AI videos in recommendations.

YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim, and Steve Chen. The three were early employees at PayPal and had become wealthy after eBay’s acquisition of the company. Hurley had studied design at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

According to a story that has often been repeated in the media, Hurley and Chen developed the idea for YouTube during the early months of 2005, after they had experienced difficulty sharing videos that had been shot at a dinner party at Chen’s apartment in San Francisco. Karim did not attend the party and denied that it had occurred, but Chen remarked that the idea that YouTube was founded after a dinner party “was probably very strengthened by marketing ideas around creating a story that was very digestible”.

Karim said the inspiration for YouTube came from the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy when Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly exposed by Justin Timberlake during the halftime show. Karim could not easily find video clips of the incident and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami online, which led to the idea of a video-sharing site. Hurley and Chen said that the original idea for YouTube was a video version of an online dating service and had been influenced by the website Hot or Not. They created posts on Craigslist asking attractive women to upload videos of themselves to YouTube in exchange for a $100 reward. Difficulty in finding enough dating videos led to a change of plans, with the site’s founders deciding to accept uploads of any video.

YouTube began as a venture capital–funded technology startup. Between November 2005 and April 2006, the company raised money from various investors, with Sequoia Capital and Artis Capital Management being the largest two. YouTube’s early headquarters were situated above a pizzeria and a Japanese restaurant in San Mateo, California. In February 2005, the company registered www.youtube.com. The first video was uploaded on April 23, 2005. Titled “Me at the zoo”, it shows co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo and can still be viewed on the site. The same day, the company launched a public beta and by November, a Nike ad featuring Ronaldinho became the first video to reach one million total views.

In the biggest scandal to rock Norway’s monarchy, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit goes on trial Tuesday accused of raping four women, as well as drug and assault offences.

Marius Borg Hoiby, Mette-Marit’s 29-year-old son from a relationship before she married Crown Prince Haakon, has been charged with a total of 38 counts, some of which date back to 2018.

He faces up to 16 years in prison if the Oslo district court finds him guilty. The trial, scheduled to last until March 19, is expected to attract intense media coverage.

“When it comes to the Norwegian royal family, it is without a doubt the biggest scandal” in its 120-year history, Trond Noren Isaksen, a historian and expert on Norway’s monarchy, told AFP.

“There have been controversies surrounding the choice of spouses, about renovations of the palace and these kinds of things, but never any real scandals involving criminal offences, let alone so many,” he said.

The most serious charges against Hoiby are the four rapes and the physical and psychological abuse of several ex-girlfriends.

A tall strapping blond who cultivates a “bad boy” look with slicked back hair, earrings, rings and tattoos, Hoiby was arrested on August 4, 2024 suspected of assaulting his girlfriend the night before.

Several days later, he admitted he had acted “under the influence of alcohol and cocaine after an argument”, having suffered from “mental troubles” and struggling “for a long time with substance abuse”.

The investigation into that incident uncovered a slew of other suspected offences, including the rapes of four women while they were sleeping or passed out drunk, some of which he filmed.

US President Donald Trump, Melania Trump and top administration officials attended the premier Thursday night of the first lady’s new movie promising a behind-the-scenes glimpse at her husband’s return to power.

The documentary, titled “Melania” and funded by an extraordinary multimillion-dollar deal with Amazon, was given a red-carpet screening at the newly renamed Trump-Kennedy center in Washington.

“Glamorous, very glamorous,” the president said of the film as he arrived at the event holding hands with his wife.

“We need some glamour.”

Melania Trump’s movie aims to document the 20 days leading up to Trump’s second inauguration through the eyes of the Slovenian-born 55-year-old first lady.

But amid reports of soft ticket sales for the film, the huge fee paid by Amazon has raised questions about whether the US tech giant is merely trying to curry favor with the president.

Top administration officials like Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson, attended the screening.

Melania Trump has often been a mysterious figure since her husband’s return to the White House in January 2025, preferring to spend her time with their son Barron in New York and Florida.

But she said the film, which goes on global release Friday and will later be shown exclusively on Amazon Prime, would give people a look behind the enigma.

“They will see how I work, who I am, how I communicate with people, and they will know me a little bit more,” she told Fox and Friends on Wednesday.

A teaser for the documentary released in December showed the former model looking to the camera just before her husband’s second swearing-in at the US Capitol and saying: “Here we go again.”

The Trumps held a private screening at the White House on Saturday — hours after immigration agents shot dead protester Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in an incident that has sparked national outrage.

In one of a series of promotional interviews this week for the film, Melania Trump called for “unity” after the Minneapolis killing.

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While it promises an “unprecedented” glimpse into her life, “Melania” has also given an insight into the way US business titans have lined up to pay tribute to the Trump administration in the past year.

Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos has grown notably closer to Trump, securing a prime seat at the inauguration and telling the Washington Post newspaper he owns to favor pro-business editorials.

US media say that of Amazon’s $40 million licensing deal for the film, Melania, who served as executive producer, will receive 70 percent. The next highest bid, from Disney, was reportedly only $14 million.

On top of that Amazon has reportedly paid for a stunning $35 million marketing campaign including television commercials, billboards and a simulcast in 25 theaters at the same time as Thursday’s premiere.

“How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe?” Ted Hope, a former Amazon film executive, was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

Billionaire Donald Trump has faced repeated criticism that his family members are profiting from deals made off the back of his presidency. The White House says Trump is already rich and makes no money from his position.

The president said on his Truth Social account that “Melania” was “A MUST WATCH.”

Catherine O’Hara, the acclaimed Canadian actress known for her work in Schitt’s Creek, Home Alone, and Best in Show, has died at the age of 71.

TMZ confirmed her death on Friday, with sources close to the actress reporting that the cause of death is currently unclear.

O’Hara’s career spanned decades and included some of Hollywood’s most beloved comedy roles. She famously portrayed Macaulay Culkin’s mother in the first two Home Alone films and starred as the iconic Moira Rose in 80 episodes of the Emmy-winning television series Schitt’s Creek. Her film credits also include the cult classic Beetlejuice, as well as the mockumentaries Best in Show (2000) and A Mighty Wind (2003).

In addition to her acting accomplishments, O’Hara earned recognition for her writing contributions. She won her first Emmy Award in 1982 for writing on the sketch comedy series SCTV Network 90 and later won an Emmy in 2020 for her work on Schitt’s Creek. Her most recent performance was alongside Seth Rogen in the Apple TV+ series The Studio, which earned her another Emmy nomination.

Born in Toronto as the sixth of seven children, O’Hara met production designer Bo Welch on the set of 1988’s Beetlejuice. The couple married in 1992 and had two sons, Matthew and Luke.

O’Hara remained a beloved figure in both television and film, celebrated for her comedic timing and ability to bring nuanced characters to life. She was last photographed in February 2024 at LAX, reflecting on which of her roles she most wanted to be remembered for.

Catherine O’Hara was 71. Her death marks the loss of a legendary actress whose work continues to influence comedy and television.

O’Hara started her comedy career in 1974 as a cast member of The Second City in her hometown, Toronto. She was an understudy for Gilda Radner until Radner left for Saturday Night Live. Two years later, this theatre troupe created the sketch comedy show SCTV, for which O’Hara became a regular performer.

In the late 1970s, she provided voice-overs for a number of cartoons, work which would continue throughout her career. During a short time in the early 1980s when SCTV was in between network deals, she was hired to replace Ann Risley when Saturday Night Live was being retooled in 1981. However, she quit the show without appearing on air, choosing to go back to SCTV when the show signed on with NBC. She was long rumored to have left SNL due to conflicts with volatile writer Michael O’Donoghue, but O’Hara denied these claims and said she left the show due to her dislike for living in New York City.