YouTube expands AI-powered conversational search to mobile devices

YouTube is expanding its conversational AI search feature, ‘Ask YouTube’, to mobile devices including Android and iOS. Powered by Google’s Gemini technology, the tool allows users to search using natural language rather than traditional keywords. Users can ask complex questions and follow up with additional queries to refine results, receiving answers that combine text, video clips, and Shorts.

Previously limited to web and connected TV platforms, or restricted to YouTube Premium subscribers, the feature is now rolling out to all users on mobile devices in the United States. The AI can identify specific timestamps within long videos to provide direct answers to user inquiries.

YouTube also announced plans to integrate this conversational capability directly into the watch page for YouTube Shorts and live streams in the near future. Currently, the rollout is focused on English-language searches within the U.S., and the feature is not available for supervised child accounts or YouTube Kids.