YouTube’s contextual AI search rolls out to all users on Android and iOS in US

Google has announced that its conversational AI search feature, "Ask YouTube," will now be available to all mobile users in the United States, not just those with a YouTube Premium subscription. This marks a significant expansion from the feature's initial rollout, which was limited to TVs and Premium users in 2023.

Initially introduced as a Premium-only feature, "Ask YouTube" allows users to ask questions about videos they are watching. The feature has since evolved to include a conversation-oriented presentation, going beyond just questions about the video or timestamps. Powered by Google's Gemini AI model, the answers provided by "Ask YouTube" can include information beyond what is strictly in the video being watched.

The new version of "Ask YouTube" can now be accessed from the watch page in the Shorts feed and during live streams. However, Google plans to roll out these additional features in a later update. For now, users in the US can expect to see "Ask YouTube" on their mobile Android or iOS devices as it continues to be widely rolled out to more users. Google intends to gradually expand the availability of this feature.