YouTube Cracks Down! AI Movie Trailers Made Millions, But Who Took the Cash

Hollywood has a new AI problem, fake movie trailers that rack up millions of views. But instead of taking them down, major studios like Warner Bros., Paramount, and Sony were profiting from them by filing copyright claims and redirecting ad revenue to themselves. Now, YouTube has stepped in, demonetizing two of the biggest channels behind these AI-generated fakes: Screen Culture and KH Studio. These channels, with nearly 2 million combined subscribers, have released viral trailers featuring fabricated blockbusters, like a Twilight sequel starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson or a Street Fighter movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Keanu Reeves. While YouTube says the crackdown is due to misleading and repetitive content, the real controversy is how Hollywood studios chose to monetize AI-generated slop rather than shut it down.

Actors aren’t happy. The SAG-AFTRA union has slammed studios for profiting from unauthorized AI content, calling it a “race to the bottom” that threatens human creativity. Meanwhile, the creators of these fake trailers defend their work, arguing it’s all just harmless "what-if" content. KH Studio’s founder insists the channel was never meant to deceive viewers, while Screen Culture’s Nikhil P. Chaudhari claims most users know the trailers aren’t official.