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LONDON: YouTube announced on Thursday that it will begin rolling out Veo 3, Google’s most advanced AI video generation model, on YouTube Shorts — free of charge to selected countries in the MENA region — over the coming weeks.

The announcement came during YouTube’s flagship advertiser event, Brandcast, marking the platform’s renewed push into AI as it seeks to solidify its regional presence against competitors TikTok and Meta’s Instagram.

“YouTube has been the launchpad for the creator economy across MENA for over a decade,” said Tarek Amin, YouTube’s regional director for the Middle East, Turkiye & Africa.

“By combining the authentic trust of our creators with powerful AI models like Veo 3, we are offering brands in the region an unmatched ability to drive culture and commerce with audiences they can’t find anywhere else,” he said.

YouTube marked its 20th anniversary since the upload of the historic video, “Me at the zoo,” on April 23, 2005, and has been operating in MENA for more than a decade.

The platform boasts high penetration rates — 94 percent in the UAE and 89 percent in �������� — making it the dominant video-sharing platform in the region.

According to YouTube’s data, which it described as “significant and unique,” 61 percent of Saudi YouTube Shorts users and 54 percent of UAE users reported that they do not use Instagram Reels.

YouTube reiterated its commitment to regional growth, stating that the introduction of new features reflects its dedication to creators in MENA.

Among these is Veo 3 on Shorts, which can create high-definition videos. Initially, it will be English-first but plans exist to expand to more languages and creators in the future.

The Google-owned platform also plans to broaden the reach of its auto-dubbing feature, currently available to about 51,000 Egyptian creators translating Egyptian Arabic to English — an AI-powered translation tool enabling creators to reach global audiences.

Additionally, YouTube will launch its “Creator Partnerships Hub and Open Call” in 2026 across MENA to help brands streamline collaborations with creators and identify the best fit for their campaigns.

Key consumer trends were also highlighted, including a notable shift in viewer behavior.

A Kantar survey revealed that viewers in �������� and the UAE rank YouTube as their top platform for researching, vetting or making decisions about brands, products or services — outperforming Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter) and Snapchat.

Sixty percent of surveyed Gen Z viewers in �������� and the UAE indicated that they prefer watching video product reviews over reading written content or listening to audio reviews.

“We’re building the future of streaming, commerce and entertainment on YouTube,” Amin said. “MENA is a global force in content creation, and we are just getting started.”