The AI video arms race and why Google and others are paying YouTube creators for footage

YouTubers and other digital content creators are selling their unused video footage to artificial intelligence companies seeking exclusive videos to better train their AI algorithms, often netting thousands of US dollars per deal. OpenAI, Alphabet’s Google, Moonvalley and several other AI companies are collectively paying hundreds of content creators for access to their unpublished videos, according to people familiar with the negotiations. That content, which has not been posted elsewhere online, is considered valuable for training artificial intelligence systems since it is unique. AI companies are currently paying between US$1 (HK$8) and US$4 per minute of footage, the people say, with prices increasing depending on video quality or format. Videos shot in 4K, for example, go for a higher price, as does non-traditional footage such as videos captured by drones or using 3D animations. Most footage, such as unused video created for networks like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, is selling for somewhere between US$1 and US$2 per minute. OpenAI, Meta Platforms and Adobe all launched AI video generators in 2024, which can create realistic-looking videos from text prompts. To do that, though, AI companies need massive amounts of data for training, sometimes millions of hours of video content. “It’s an arms race and they all need more footage,” says Dan Levitt, senior vice-president of creators at Wasserman, which represents social media stars such as YouTuber MatPat and fashion influencer Taylen Biggs. “I see a window in the next couple [of] years where licensing footage is lucrative for creators who are open to doing so. But I don’t think that window is going to last that long.” Some content creators shoot hundreds of hours of video footage each year in the process of making videos for YouTube, Instagram or TikTok. But much of that content never actually makes it online, meaning creators do not make money from it. Anything that you publicly post essentially is up for grabs … we’ve seen companies just rip it and ingest it Dan Levitt of Wasserman, a firm representing social media stars By selling that content to AI companies, creators have a way to diversify their income beyond advertising deals with brands. “At Moonvalley, the vast majority of our training data is coming sourced directly from content creators and filmmakers who are interested in licensing any video content that they own,” the company says. Spokesmen for Google and OpenAI declined to comment. Artificial intelligence companies have faced intense criticism for using text, videos and photos posted to the internet without compensating the people who created that content. In 2024, news publishers, actors and individual content creators filed lawsuits against OpenAI, Meta, Nvidia and others for using their intellectual property to build AI models and reportedly violating copyright protections. “Anything that you publicly post essentially is up for grabs, and we’ve seen companies just rip it and ingest it into their system,” said Levitt, who has encouraged creators to sign licensing deals. “This is a way to actually participate in that, to do this in a much more legal, structured manner, and now you at least have some upside.” Talent agencies that represent digital creators have been working with third-party licensing companies like Troveo AI and Calliope Networks to manage the rights for the thousands of hours of video footage owned by creators. Those companies negotiate terms with hundreds of digital content creators, collect all the video footage and then license the content in bulk to AI companies. Some AI companies are also working with content creators directly. “All the companies building video models we’re either working with or are in our pipeline right now,” says Marty Pesis, co-founder and chief executive officer of Troveo, which has paid out over US$5 million to creators. Most deals include terms that prevent AI companies from creating digital replicas of content creators, mimicking exact scenes from their channels, or using footage in a way that could negatively impact a creator’s reputation, says Andrew Graham, head of digital corporate advisory and partnerships for Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which has over a dozen clients in talks to strike deals with AI companies. CAA represents social media stars such as Amelia Dimoldenberg, who has interviewed celebrities like Ryan Reynolds and Sabrina Carpenter on her web series Chicken Shop Date, and YouTube shorts creator Alan Chikin Chow, who has over 73 million followers on the platform. “Our greatest concern as agents is that we are making sure our clients are being appropriately compensated,” Graham says, “but also being appropriately protected, and that their brand is not going to be sullied or put in any sort of compromised situation”.

The AI video arms race and why Google and others are paying YouTube creators for footage

OpenAI and other firms’ need for footage to train AI video generators has content creators selling them unused footage, but there are issues