YouTube’s Latest Experiment Brings Its Conversational AI Tool to TVs

The race to advance conversational AI in the living room is heating up, with YouTube being the latest to expand its tool to smart TVs, gaming consoles, and streaming devices. This experimental feature, previously limited to mobile devices and the web, now brings conversational AI directly to the largest screen in the home, allowing users to ask questions about content without leaving the video they’re watching.

“The expansion of conversational AI to television represents a fundamental shift in how viewers interact with content. We’re moving from passive consumption to active engagement.” — Streaming Industry Analyst

The Feature in Action

According to YouTube’s support documentation, eligible users can click the “Ask” button on their TV screen to summon the AI assistant. The feature offers suggested questions based on the video content, or users can use their remote’s microphone button to ask anything related to what they’re watching.

For instance, viewers might ask about recipe ingredients in a cooking video or the background of a song’s lyrics in a music video, and receive instant answers without pausing or leaving the app. Currently, this feature is available to a select group of users over 18 and supports English, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean.

YouTube first launched this conversational AI tool in 2024 to help viewers explore content in greater depth. The expansion to TVs comes as more Americans now access YouTube through their television than ever before.

A Changing Viewing Landscape

Television dominance is becoming increasingly central to YouTube’s strategy. A Nielsen report from April 2025 found that YouTube accounted for 12.4% of total television audience time, surpassing major platforms like Disney and Netflix. This shift has made the living room a critical battleground for AI-powered features.

Competitive pressure is mounting from multiple directions. Amazon rolled out Alexa+ on Fire TV devices, enabling users to engage in natural conversations and ask for tailored content recommendations, hunt for specific scenes in movies, or even ask questions about actors and filming locations.

Industry-wide momentum suggests this is more than a single company’s experiment. Roku has enhanced its AI voice assistant to handle open-ended questions about movies and shows, while Netflix is also testing its own AI search experience. The race to own the AI-assisted viewing experience is well underway.

“YouTube’s TV viewership numbers give them a unique advantage. When you have that much attention in the living room, even small AI features can have massive impact.” — Media Technology Researcher

Beyond the Ask Button

YouTube has been steadily building out its AI capabilities across the platform. The company recently launched a feature that automatically enhances videos uploaded at lower resolutions to full HD. Additionally, YouTube continues to develop other AI features, including a comments summarizer that helps viewers catch up on video discussions and an AI-driven search results carousel.

In January, the company announced that creators will soon be able to make Shorts using AI-generated versions of their own likeness. Last week, YouTube launched a dedicated app for the Apple Vision Pro, letting users watch content on a theater-sized virtual screen in an immersive environment.

The convergence of these features suggests a broader strategy: transforming YouTube from a simple video platform into an AI-assisted media experience that spans every screen in users’ lives.

This article was reported by the ArtificialDaily editorial team. For more information, visit TechCrunch.