YouTube's 'Ask YouTube' Hits 140 Million Monthly Users, Up 500% Since December

Emily Moxley, YouTube's VP of Product Management for Viewer AI, said at the "Made on YouTube 2026" event on September 23 that more than 140 million people used the conversational search feature "Ask YouTube" in June, up over 500% from December 2025. The figure was made public through a video posted by YouTube's creator channel on September 25.

Ask YouTube lets users type natural-language questions and receive answers combining text with video clips, long-form videos, and Shorts, while supporting follow-up questions. It launched in December as a trial limited to Premium subscribers and adults (18+), then expanded on July 6 to all logged-in U.S. desktop users aged 13 and up. Logged-out users and supervised accounts are not yet eligible, and YouTube says it plans to gradually expand to other devices, languages, and international markets.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai had previously cited the same 140 million figure during the company's Q2 earnings call on July 22, though without noting the year-over-year growth rate at that time. YouTube still hasn't disclosed the actual user count for December 2025 or how it defines "users," making it hard to gauge exactly what's driving the growth.

Views generated through Ask YouTube count toward a video's overall view total and YouTube Partner Program revenue. YouTube advised creators to publish unique, high-quality content with clearly defined chapters and titles.

In Korea

Given how much time Korean users already spend on YouTube, an eventual expansion of Ask YouTube to Korean-language and domestic accounts could make how each video gets summarized and cited a direct factor in view counts. It isn't available in Korean or to logged-out users yet, but clearly structured chapters, titles, and descriptions are something creators can prepare in advance.