YouTube officially announced, on July 29, the gradual deployment in the United States of a new system of age estimate based on artificial intelligence. This measure aims to better identify adolescents, including those who hide their real date of birth, and to apply specific protections supposed to make the experience more suited to their age. This decision is part of a global strategy of the group, launched in February as part of its 2025 roadmap.
Discreet but powerful age estimate technology
YouTube confirmed that it would no longer be limited to the data declared during registration. The American giant now intends to deduce the age of users thanks to a combination of signals: seniority of the account, viewing history, interactions with the platform, and other not specified indicators. “” In the coming weeks, we will start to deploy automatic learning with a small group of users in the United States to estimate their age, so that adolescents are treated as adolescents and adults as adults. “Said James Beser, product director at Youtube, in a post published on the official blog of the platform on July 29, 2025.
This estimate will be applied exclusively to connected users. People who are wrongly identified as minors will be able to prove their majority via an official document, a bank card or a selfie validated by facial recognition.
Targeted adolescents, advertised advertisements
The objective announced by YouTube is to strengthen the digital security of adolescents on its network, automatically by deploying a series of limitations: removal of personalized advertisements, restriction of access to content reserved for adults, limitation of the repetition of certain videos, in particular those dealing with body image or aggressive behavior.
These functions are not new. They have existed for several years, but have so far been activated only if the user declared himself a minor. The novelty therefore lies in the proactive and invisible character of this detection. According to The Verge, « These accounts will benefit from the same protections as those that YouTube already offers users who declare themselves as under the age of 18, in particular the blocking of videos subject to an age limit, non -personalized advertisements, notifications “take a break” and a limitation of repeated recommendations of videos on sensitive subjects. »
A response to growing regulatory pressures
YouTube’s approach is part of a context of increased regulation, both in the United States and internationally. More than a dozen American states, including Florida, UTAH, Texas or Connecticut, have recently adopted or proposed laws forcing platforms to verify the age of their users. Some of these laws are already attacked in justice and suspended.
Across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom began to apply the provisions of its Online Safety Act last week, requiring a rigorous age verification on the sites containing content deemed harmful. Faced with this pressure, Google adopts a more cooperative approach, preferring to impose its own standards before states dictate them. The company recalls that this detection technology is tested on a limited sample before a wider deployment, including internationally.