YouTube has announced the expansion of its advanced likeness detection technology, designed to identify AI-generated deepfakes, to a pilot group that includes government officials, political candidates, and journalists.

The initiative provides these public figures with a specialized tool to detect unauthorized AI-generated content featuring their likeness.

Participants in the pilot program can review detected matches and request the removal of videos they believe violate the platform’s policies, a move aimed at strengthening the integrity of public discourse and limiting the spread of misinformation.

The technology was first introduced last year to about four million creators in the YouTube Partner Program after extensive testing.

Similar to the platform’s Content ID system used for copyright protection, the likeness detection feature identifies simulated faces and visual representations generated through artificial intelligence.

These tools have increasingly been used to create convincing deepfakes of public figures, often portraying politicians or officials saying or doing things they never did.

According to Leslie Miller, YouTube’s Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy, the expansion is intended to protect the “integrity of the public conversation,” particularly in civic spaces where AI impersonation poses greater risks.

Requests for removal will not automatically lead to content being taken down.

Each case will be evaluated under YouTube’s privacy and expression guidelines to determine whether the material qualifies as parody, satire, or political critique.

The company is also supporting the proposed NO FAKES Act in Washington, which seeks to regulate unauthorized AI recreations of individuals’ voices and likenesses.

Eligible testers must complete identity verification before accessing the tool, and YouTube plans to expand the technology further in the future, potentially enabling users to block violating uploads before they go live and broadening detection to include AI-generated voices and other forms of intellectual property.