The race to advance conversational artificial intelligence in the living room is heating up, with YouTube the latest to extend its tool to smart TVs, game consoles and streaming devices.
Previously limited to mobile and the web, this experimental feature now brings conversational AI directly to the biggest screen in the home, allowing users to ask questions about content without leaving the video they’re watching.
According to YouTube’s support page, eligible users can click the “Ask” button on the TV screen to summon an AI assistant. This feature offers suggested questions based on the video or users can ask anything related to the video using the microphone button on the remote control. For example, they can ask about recipe ingredients or background song lyrics and get instant answers without pausing or leaving the app.
Currently, this feature is available to a select group of users over 18 years of age and supports English, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean.
YouTube first launched this conversational AI tool in 2024 to help viewers explore content in greater depth. The expansion to TVs comes as more Americans now access YouTube through their TVs than ever before. An April 2025 Nielsen report found that YouTube accounted for 12.4% of total TV viewer time, surpassing major platforms such as Disney and Netflix.
Other companies are also making significant strides with their conversational AI technologies. Amazon has rolled out Alexa+ on Fire TV devices, allowing users to engage in natural conversations and ask Alexa+ for tailored content recommendations, search for specific scenes in movies, or even ask about actors and filming locations.
Meanwhile, Roku has tweaked its AI voice assistant to handle open-ended questions about movies and shows, such as “What’s this movie about?” or “How scary is that?” Netflix is also testing its AI search experience.
Techcrunch event
Boston, MA
|
June 9, 2026
Another way YouTube has tried to improve its TV experience with artificial intelligence is the recent launch of a feature that automatically enhances Full HD videos recorded at lower resolutions.
In addition, the company continues to roll out other AI features such as comment summarization to help viewers capture video discussions and an AI-driven search results carousel. In January, the company announced that creators will soon be able to create Shorts using AI-generated versions.
Last week, YouTube launched a special app for Apple Vision Pro that allows users to watch their favorite content on a cinema-sized virtual screen in an immersive environment.