The vibe at VidCon was different this year. Not quieter, just... shifted. No Instagram rooftop, no TikTok beach balls at the Hilton. Instead, the floor was packed with new kinds of action.
YouTube turned 20 and threw itself a birthday bash loud enough to echo through the Expo Hall. Collab corners buzzing, creator-led meetups taking over every open hallway, and platform leads dropping under-the-hood advice.
A chunk of creators were split between VidCon Anaheim and Cannes Lions (both owned by Informa now). But with over 50,000 people showing up, VidCon held strong.
The AIR team came to VidCon 2025 to gather everything that matters to creators.
Let’s start from the top.
YouTube Shorts + Vertical Livestreams
If you’re still ignoring Shorts or haven’t tried vertical livestreams, it’s time. One of the most talked-about creators — Jenny Hoyos — said she grew from 4 million to 9 million subs this year, and vertical livestreams were her weapon of choice.
One of her streams pulled in 10,000 concurrent viewers on the Shorts feed.
Why? Simple. Shorts bring the eyeballs. Livestreams make them stay. Long-form builds trust. She’s using all three in sync. That's your playbook.
24/7 Streams: Passive Views, Active Revenue
One thing that kept popping up at VidCon is that 24/7 live streaming is working.
It’s simple. You take content you’ve already made, queue it up in a playlist, and stream it as a continuous “live” broadcast. No need to be on camera. No need to reinvent anything. Just hit go and let the algorithm do its thing.
We shared a couple of AIR’s case studies during one of the sessions with Vira Slyvinska, and the numbers turned a lot of heads.
Here are some examples of 24/7 streaming for you to catch up on:
- The DONA English: In just 10 days streaming, views jumped by 42%. A few months later, those streams made up 60% of their total channel revenue.
- Lesnoy: After two months of running a 24/7 stream, they pulled in 1.15 million views, 260,000 watch hours, and over 2,000 new subscribers.
It’s one of those strategies that feels too simple to matter, until you see the results.
For creators with a deep content library (or even just a few solid playlists), 24/7 live streaming might be the most low-effort, high-impact move of the year.
AI Dubbing and Human Dubbing
YouTube announced it at VidCon — auto-dubbing now works in 11 new languages and is rolling out to 80 million creators. That’s a lot of reach, sitting one toggle away.
We hear the complaints. “Auto-dubbing sounds off. Feels soulless.” But hear us out. It’s not about perfection at this point — it’s about testing.
- Turn auto-dubbing on.
- Let it run for a month.
- Then check your analytics.
Where are the views coming from? What regions are holding watch time? That’s your signal. Once you spot traction, that’s when you can go big.
We’re talking hybrid dubbing: real human voices plus AI polish. Emotion, nuance, local tone — everything that drives what matters on YouTube: watch time, retention, engagement.
We shared a few case studies of AIR’s hybrid dubbing at VidCon. Look what results it can hit:
- Brave Wilderness (21M subs): 12 localized channels. 370K+ new subs. 80 million views in 10 months.
- Amelka Karamelka (5.6M subs): 18 channels launched. Over 1M subs gained. 346 million new views.
Start with YouTube’s auto, then scale the winners with real voices. That’s how you go global, sounding like you in all languages.
AI: It’s Not a Trend, It’s a Toolbelt
If there was one thing nobody shut up about at VidCon 2025, it was AI. Not the futuristic kind. The now kind.
At one of the big Industry panels, Ollie Forsyth (founder of New Economies) dropped a stat that had people scribbling notes: in 2024, only 33% of creators used AI. In 2025 that number jumped to 80%.
Four out of five creators are now using AI tools somewhere in their process — whether it’s scripting, dubbing, thumbnail generation, or full-on video creation.
The speed at which platforms are launching new AI tools is wild too. Just look at the latest drops.
Generative AI Comes to YouTube Shorts with Veo 3
Veo 3, Google DeepMind’s wild video generation model, is officially going public this summer for YouTube Shorts. Until now, only top creators got access. Now it’s about to hit everyone.
Veo won’t write your story. You still need the concept. The voice. The tension. AI just makes it pop faster.
Bing Drops a Text-to-Video Tool (With Sora Inside)
Lowkey one of the coolest releases: Bing’s new text-to-video tool runs on OpenAI’s Sora engine. You type a prompt, and out comes a scene — animations, transitions, whole moods. It’s still experimental, but for prototyping ideas or pitching fast, it’s worth a test drive.
Gemini Tries to One-Up Eleven Labs
Google’s Gemini isn’t just for search anymore. Its speech tools are coming up to play in Eleven Labs territory. Voiceovers. Character AI. Flexible narration.
Expect it to plug straight into Shorts, auto-dubbing, and even interactive content before long.
It's a great time to be a creator with all this AI help. Just remember that it’s your backstage crew, not the start of the show.
The Algorithm: Here’s What Works Now
At one creator track session, a YouTube product lead straight-up said, “Stop worrying about the algorithm. Start thinking about your audience.” The retention comes from storytelling, not pacing or cuts.
Kai Plunk — the guy behind some of MrBeast’s most viral hits — and Filup Molina, who produced Beast Olympics and runs a digital media studio, made this painfully clear. They said stop obsessing over analytics and ask: “What’s the hook? Why would someone NEED to know what happens next?”
If you're not closing the “curiosity gap” in the first five seconds, you're toast.
Want to level up your hooks? Try this.
Start with a question that sounds like a dare or a mystery. End your first line with a cliffhanger. Easy to say, hard to master.
Here are a few representative cliffhanger styles from top creators that nail the hook formula:
- Dude Perfect: “We only had one shot from 100 feet…and we can’t miss.”
- Mark Rober: “This package thief had no idea what was coming… and this year, we upgraded the glitter bomb.”
- Veritasium: “Here are a few Google interview questions that everyone gets wrong…”
These are the kinds of openers that grab you by the brain and don’t let go.
VidCon Is Shifting — So Should You
We left with a notebook full of ideas, tools, and contacts. And if you’re a creator trying to grow in 2025 — here’s the real talk:
- Use Shorts to pull attention, vertical livestreams to build connection, and long-form to earn trust.
- Start 24/7 streaming with your strongest playlists.
- Turn on YouTube’s auto-dubbing now, track which markets perform, then double down with real voiceovers.
- Don’t ignore AI, but don’t hand it the keys either. It won’t replace you, just help you do what you already do 3X faster.
- Build your storytelling. It’s now just your intro — it’s your structure, your tension, your payoff. No story, no retention. Period.
- And if you want to go further, faster — reach out.
We’ve seen just about everything on YouTube, helping over 3,000 creators become global voices, grow their income, and scale their audiences. We know the patterns. And we know how to break them.
Let’s adjust your strategy for what’s next. We’re ready when you are.
