MrBeast said he has pulled an AI tool to make thumbnails for YouTube videos that he offered through his ViewStats Pro service for creators after a backlash about the potential impact on working artists.
The livelihoods of creatives are under pressure from the rapid advance of AI technology and its widespread adoption, with users of tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and many others able to generate images, videos and artwork using simple prompts at low cost.
YouTubers use thumbnail artwork to entice people to click on their videos and watch, and it offers steady work for many artists, but generative AI is eating into their commissions. AI does, though, offer smaller YouTubers a lower-cost option for artwork.
"I thought people were going to be pretty excited about it, but I definitely missed the mark," MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, said in a video posted to his social media about the AI thumbnail tool.
Now, he said the AI tool has been replaced by something that directs people to the portfolios of real thumbnail artists so they can be commissioned instead.
MrBeast said it was "turning this negative situation into something positive that helps artists generate more income doing what they love".
"I care more than any of you could ever imagine about the YouTube community," MrBeast said, noting that he is the world's biggest YouTuber and "I don't take that responsibility lightly".
"It deeply makes me sad when I do something that, you know, people in the community are upset by," he said.
"With ViewStats, my goal here is to build tools that help creators and if creators don't want the tools, no worries. It's not that big of a deal.
"I also want to put out there: I guarantee you, I have spent more money on thumbnail artists than any other YouTuber in the world. I've probably spent more money on thumbnail artists than the top 100 creators combined.
"I have a small army of thumbnail artists that work for me. I'm looking to hire more thumbnail artists."
Dylan Madden, a creator, said "I respect it" in a reply to MrBeast's video on X. "However finding real thumbnail makers will cost YouTubers much much more money long term," Madden said. "Most of the people with opinions aren't really in the game."
Madden said he would have kept the AI tool and the ability to hire artists as an option: "That way people with any budget can be helped."
But Ross O'Donovan, an animator and streamer who goes by RubberRoss, welcomed MrBeast's decision, saying: "I appreciate you looking at this objectively and realizing how with you being the biggest creator on the platform, you can unintentionally set a precedent that can affect the industry as a whole."
"Coming from the animation scene, I can tell you right now the wider industry has been in a catastrophic place with studios killing so many projects, leaving countless people unemployed," RubberRoss posted to X, replying to MrBeast.
"It's independent creators on platforms like YouTube that have long been the entry point and source of financial stability for so many creatives. I mean consider my friend JaidenAnimations who won your big creator video last year. She entirely got her start as a for hire animator by ihascupquake well over a decade ago."
"Think how important that entry point from something as small as that could be to the next generation of creators. I think you realize the responsibility you now have to support the wider community. Best of luck."