 "This Indian YouTube channel earned ₹38 cr through AI-generated videos")
A global study on artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content on YouTube has found that the world’s most-watched channel made entirely with AI is based in India. The channel, 'Bandar Apna Dost', earns an estimated $4.25 million a year (around ₹38 crore).
The findings come from a report by video-editing platform Kapwing, which analysed 15,000 of the most popular YouTube channels worldwide to understand the scale and impact of AI-made content.
What the study looked at
Kapwing’s report focused on channels that rely almost entirely on artificial intelligence to produce videos with little or no human creative input. These videos are often described as “AI slop”; content made quickly and cheaply, mainly to attract clicks and views.
The study identified the top 100 trending YouTube channels in each country and identified AI-made content. Using SocialBlade, it checked views, subscribers, and yearly earnings. It then combined this data to measure popularity. The study also opened a new YouTube account to see how often AI and brain rot videos appear in Shorts.
India leads with 'Bandar Apna Dost'
Among all the channels studied, 'Bandar Apna Dost' emerged as the most viewed AI-generated channel globally.
The channel features short animated clips showing an anthropomorphic rhesus monkey alongside a muscular, Hulk-like character. The videos rely on humour, exaggerated action and absurd situations rather than dialogue or storyline.
According to the report:
• The channel has crossed 2.07 billion views
• It has more than 2.76 million subscribers
• Its estimated annual earnings stand at $4,251,500
The success of 'Bandar Apna Dost' shows how AI-driven content, made at low cost, can still reach massive global audiences.
AI videos dominate recommendations
The report also raises concerns about how much AI-generated content users are seeing on YouTube. Kapwing found that more than 20 percent of recommended videos for new users fall under the AI slop category.
In the case of YouTube Shorts, the presence is even stronger. Brainrot-style videos, fast, repetitive and often AI-made, account for around 33 per cent of the first 500 shorts shown to a new user.
This suggests that recommendation algorithms may be favouring content that keeps users watching longer, even if the quality is low.
Global picture: Key countries, channels
The study highlights how AI slop content has spread across countries:
• Spain leads in subscribers, with trending AI slop channels having a combined 20.22 million subscribers
• In South Korea, trending AI slop channels have gathered 8.45 billion views
• A US-based channel, Cuentos Facinantes, has the highest subscriber count among AI slop channels at 5.95 million