Over the three years I've been doing YouTube, I've made somewhere around $250,000–300,000

This is Alex, a young man in a white T-shirt with a YouTube logo. He lives in a mid-sized European country and is building his YouTube business there. The average salary where he lives is $700 before taxes.

He doesn't make podcasts or record tutorials. His superpower is AI content that you watch to fall asleep or while cleaning your apartment. And videos like these now account for around a third of the entire YouTube feed. Let's take a look at how the world of faceless channels works and who can make decent money in this business.

«You used to be able to make a video with a single image and get paid for it»

Alex has been doing YouTube for four years and has been making money on the platform for three. His business model is simple: he runs several channels with AI-generated content. Some of them become popular, and he receives substantial payouts from YouTube.

The platform obviously doesn't mind getting extra views and making extra money. After all, when a creator makes a dollar, the platform makes two. YouTube isn't against artificial intelligence; it's against abuse. They want to minimize the number of ‘creators’ sitting 20 people in a basement and churning out these videos

He says that in the past, you could make a video with a single image and get it monetized. That approach no longer works.

Vlad Kairex, another experienced YouTube:

One person used to be able to run dozens of channels with low-quality content. Today, thanks to AI and automation, you can launch hundreds of channels, although there isn't enough audience for all of them. That's why YouTube is gradually tightening its requirements. Problems arise when a creator simply publishes videos without adding anything of their own.

Another creator, Kanhaiya, lives in India and has been working with YouTube for several years. Based on his experience, YouTube as a platform generally has no problem with AI-generated content. Problems start when very low-quality videos are published:

AI has made content creation easier, but it has also made competition on YouTube extremely high. Everyone has access to the same tools, but there is a difference in how they use them. It's important not to rely on them entirely, but to develop your own creativity as well. At the very least, edit the videos yourself

YouTube's rules do not prohibit running multiple channels from a single account, but if even one of the channels violates YouTube's rules, all the other connected ones will also be blocked. As AI channels began to grow rapidly, YouTube's opaque rules prompted creators to turn to specialized services that allow them to create channel networks without risking the complete loss of their business if they get banned.

Darya Goncharik, Head of Marketing at Octo Browser:

We noticed a large number of users making money on YouTube starting around autumn 2025. At that time, the number of our users from India, Bangladesh, and Eastern Europe grew noticeably. Based on feedback from our users, most of them work on 2–3 channels simultaneously, but some have as many as 100. During interviews, YouTube creators often complained that platform bans were difficult to predict and the rules were not transparent. There are risky niches, such as anything related to children-oriented content. On top of that, YouTube doesn't clearly define the quality criteria for AI-generated content. Any violation can result in lost income. Because of this, creators have to use account separation methods with anti-detect browsers to work safely. With this approach, if one account gets banned, at least the others will continue working

How many views do AI channels get?

AI slop obviously emerged alongside generative AI, and it has now become a very important part of YouTube. According to a Kapwing study, this type of content currently accounts for 21–33% of all content on YouTube.

It's easy to explain this volume. In the past, a creator had to spend a long time writing a script, shooting a video, or selecting footage. Now, all you need is a good prompt in Claude, a little magic in Nano Banana and ElevenLabs, and voilà—the video is ready in just 15 minutes.

Despite how easy they are to produce, these videos attract very large audiences, comparable to those of top «traditional» YouTube channels.

According to Kapwing, the most-viewed AI channel is the Indian Bandar Apna Dost. In 2025, it received 2.07 billion views, and its estimated annual revenue is $4.25 million. The content depicts AI-generated scenes from the lives of ordinary Indians, with… realistic monkeys also taking part.

The American Spanish-language channel Cuentos Facinantes has the most subscribers among slop channels worldwide: 9.73 million. They make AI-generated fairy tales for children.

According to The Guardian, most creators of AI content on YouTube are based in middle-income countries, such as Ukraine. There are also many of them in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Kenya. For them, this is an opportunity to earn money far exceeding the average salary in their countries.

At the same time, Alex, an Eastern European content creator, says there are probably many such creators in the US as well, but they make completely different videos on different topics.

How much can you make from AI slop?

First, let's explain how YouTube monetization works.

YouTube offers two levels of monetization.

• The first requires 500 subscribers, at least 3 public videos within 90 days, and one of the following: 3,000 hours of watch time on regular videos over 365 days or 3 million Shorts views over 90 days.
• The second level requires 1,000 subscribers and one of the following: 4,000 hours of watch time on regular videos over 365 days or 10 million Shorts views over 90 days. It provides broader access to the YouTube Partner Program.

But in February 2027, YouTube plans to tighten its monetization rules and significantly raise the threshold.

YouTube ad revenue is usually calculated using RPM—revenue per 1,000 views. NoodleTomato estimates that one million views on long-form videos can generate $5,000–12,000, while one million Shorts views brings creators $50–200.

RPM varies greatly by niche. According to publicly available data from large faceless channels, history videos focused on the US can generate $7–14 per 1,000 views, while true crime can generate $6–12 per thousand. Mythology and folklore bring in $5–9, popular science and explainer videos $6–11, personal finance $10–25, and tech reviews $8–15.

Besides direct YouTube monetization, creators have other ways to make money. They can run livestreams, add sponsorships, create branded integrations through YouTube Studio, or tag products directly in videos.

Regular commercial sponsors also reach out, but according to Alex, these offers aren't particularly lucrative.

I often get various collaboration offers by email. For example, they ask me to put a link in the video description, add an integration at the beginning of the video, send traffic to an affiliate website, and so on. But these offers are nowhere near comparable to monetization revenue, especially when it comes to English-language content. For example, a channel might make around $500 a day, while they offer $150 for a month-long collaboration.

There are also creators who make money through channels other than AdSense. Kanhaiya, for example, says he actively diversifies his income. He has sponsored integrations from software and AI companies that want to reach his audience. Another part of his income comes from affiliate marketing. He leaves links to products that are useful to his audience and receives a commission when someone makes a purchase:

I think this is one of the main advantages of building an audience on YouTube. When you have a relevant audience, you're no longer dependent solely on monetization. You can build multiple income streams: sponsorships, affiliate programs, digital products, courses, or other services. Personally, I believe it's better to develop several income streams than to depend entirely on YouTube ad revenue.

Who can make good money on YouTube?

If you're starting a career as a YouTuber, remember this: it's not easy money, it's a profession just like any other. Having a good eye for content is important. That's why you have to watch hours and hours of the same kind of AI slop and figure out why a particular video got so many views.

Discipline and perseverance are important. Many people don't want to sit at a computer for many hours a day, but that's what it takes. You often have to work a lot without seeing any results. You can make twenty videos and only the twenty-first one takes off.

At the same time, technical skills are becoming less important. AI has greatly simplified the process, and modern editing programs such as CapCut are genuinely not difficult to learn.

It's very important to learn how to work with AI properly. It's your catalyst: the faster you can create videos with it, the higher your productivity.

The basic stack for a beginner YouTuber looks like this:

• ElevenLabs for generating voiceovers
• Claude for writing scripts and copy
• Nano Banana, ChatGPT for generating images

What kind of content performs well? YouTuber Vlad Kairex divides it into two types:

• Trending content, where you need to know what’s happening right now and understand which characters or events generate traffic
• Evergreen content, which can consistently attract good views

Some say: find a niche you like and it will make you money. But that's not true. You need to find a niche that makes money. And make money from it so you can do things you enjoy

Niches that are currently popular include:

• Everything related to GTA VI.
• News. The advantage of this niche is that you don't have to think about content because something is always happening. But don't resort to sensationalism or make things up.
• Personal finance: how to save money, what the price of gold or silver will be.
• Historical content: the history of Egypt in 20 minutes, Byzantium, excavated pyramids, sensational discoveries in the Amazon jungle. People love watching this kind of content.

If you're just starting out on YouTube, choose a language whose cultural context you understand best. Don't chase English just because it has the highest monetization; competition is enormous there.

Alex says:

Psychology videos in Czech performed very well for us. It's not the poorest country, and competition is very low. A video could bring in $1,000

Tips from experts

• A lot of info-business entrepreneurs have appeared on the platform, and people often assume that YouTube is an easy way to make money. People see a distorted picture on social media and think everything will be easy. It seems that 90% of people come in with these expectations.
• Don't spread yourself too thin, and listen less to those who promise quick results. First, understand how YouTube works, what the platform looks like, and how its algorithms and monetization work. Then focus on content quality, and only after that on revenue.
• Money matters, and most people come to YouTube precisely because of it. But if you focus on making money too early, it will hinder your development. At the start, it's important to stay calm and learn the platform step by step.