An India-based YouTube channel that consists completely of AI-made videos is the most-watched "AI slop" channel on the site and earns an estimated $4.25 million a year, according to a new study conducted by video-editing company Kapwing.
Kapwing has analysed the increasing use of “AI-generated content” and “brainrot” videos on YouTube.
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Analysed research undertaken on 15,000 most popular channels
According to Kapwing, the research involved surveying 15,000 of the most popular channels on YouTube and analysing the top 100 channels in every country worldwide. Out of these channels, 278 were determined to be using only AI content.
Out of these, the most viewed channel across the globe was found to be Bandar Apna Dost, which is an India-based account that has received over 2.07 billion views.
What is ‘Bandar Apna Dost’?
The channel bio says: “Welcome to ‘Bandar Apna Dost’ – a unique blend of fun, emotion, and ultra-realistic storytelling through the life of Boltu Bandar! Here, you’ll find short cinematic videos featuring a realistic monkey in hilarious, dramatic, and heart-touching human-style situations.”
The clips are shown in short films where the monkey character is placed in human-like situations with a focus on humour, drama, or emotion.
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As of current data, Bandar Apna Dost has over 2.76 million subscribers and a total of 619 uploaded videos. Based on Kapwing calculations, it is estimated that its annual revenue is around $4,251,500.
Kapwing also made a new account on YouTube to monitor how often AI-generated and "brainrot" videos showed up in user feeds. The study found that a “total of 104 (21%) of the first 500 videos were AI-generated, and 165 (33%) of those 500 videos were brainrot.”
