YouTube announced Tuesday that its Shorts Creator Fund will double to $200 million for Q2 2026 โ a headline number that generated significant creator excitement. The fine print, buried in a 4,000-word policy update published simultaneously, has since generated significantly less enthusiasm.
Effective immediately, Shorts fund eligibility now requires a minimum "Originality Score" of 70/100, as assessed by YouTube's new Content Verification System. Videos that include repurposed audio or visual content from other platforms, AI-generated imagery, or "substantially similar" content to previously posted videos will receive reduced or zero fund payouts โ even if they meet all other eligibility requirements.
The Fallout
Several large Shorts channels report that their entire catalogs have been retroactively scored below the 70-point threshold. One creator with 8.4 million subscribers told SocialSeconds that 94% of their existing Shorts library received scores below 40 โ largely due to the AI-generated backgrounds they'd used as visual filler.
YouTube Shorts Fund size for Q2 2026 โ double the previous quarter