YouTube extends conversational AI tool to smart TVs

YouTube has extended its conversational AI tool to smart TVs, gaming consoles and streaming devices, moving the feature beyond mobile and web.

The experimental tool allows users to ask questions about the video they are watching without exiting the playback screen. According to YouTube’s support page, eligible users can select an 'Ask'  button on their TV interface to access the assistant. Suggested prompts appear on screen, and viewers can also use a remote control microphone to pose their own queries related to the content.

For example, users watching a cooking video can ask about ingredients, or seek context around a song’s lyrics, and receive responses within the app.

The feature is currently available to a limited group of users aged over 18 and supports English, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese and Korean.

YouTube first introduced the conversational AI tool in 2024. Its expansion to television comes as more viewers access the platform through connected TVs. A Nielsen report from April 2025 found that YouTube accounted for 12.4% of total television viewing time in the United States, placing it ahead of platforms such as Disney and Netflix.

The move follows similar developments from other companies. Amazon recently introduced Alexa+ on Fire TV devices, enabling users to request content recommendations, locate specific scenes and ask questions about actors or filming locations through voice interaction.

Roku has also updated its AI voice assistant to handle broader questions about films and television shows, while Netflix is testing an AI-driven search feature.

In addition to conversational tools, YouTube has introduced other AI-based updates to its television experience. These include automatic enhancement of lower-resolution uploads to full HD, an AI-powered comments summariser and a search results carousel.

In January, the company said creators would be able to produce Shorts using AI-generated versions of their own likeness.

Last week, YouTube also launched a dedicated app for the Apple Vision Pro, enabling users to view content on a virtual large-format screen.