YouTube AI label: in the player or the description?

YouTube places its altered or synthetic content label in two possible spots: on the video player for photorealistic AI content, and in the expanded description for non-photorealistic or animated AI content. Which one a Sume-generated clip gets depends on how realistic it looks, not on which tool produced it.

This is quoted from YouTube's disclosure help page (read 2026-10-10). The page is about what you must disclose; the label placement follows from your answer.

What the page says about placement

The page describes labels appearing in two locations depending on content type. Photorealistic AI content gets a label on the video player. Non-photorealistic or animated AI content gets the label in the expanded description field. The page lists fantasy scenarios, with unicorns in a fantastical world as its example, among things that do not need disclosure at all.

Why the player label matters for Shorts

A player label is the one a viewer sees while watching. In a short vertical clip that spends only seconds on screen, that is the more visible choice, and it is the one you get when the clip looks like real life. If you generate a realistic scene, plan for the player label rather than hoping for the quieter description-only placement.

A stylised or animated treatment can change which placement applies, but you should not choose a style only to dodge the label. YouTube's page frames the question around realism, and the reviewer judges that.

How the disclosure is made

The page asks creators to disclose when content is realistic and altered or synthetic in the ways it lists. YouTube Studio is where creators answer; I did not fetch the page that shows the exact menu, so I am not describing its steps. The consequence line on the page matters more: creators who consistently choose not to disclose may get a label applied manually, or face penalties including removal of content or suspension from the YouTube Partner Program.

• Disclose when the clip is realistic and AI-made or meaningfully altered.
• Expect a player label for photorealistic content.
• Expect a description label for animated or non-photorealistic AI content.

What to do on the Sume side

Sume's video generation endpoint creates the footage, and the render tools in Timeline 1.0 assemble it into a 1080 x 1920 MP4 by default. Neither sets a YouTube label, because the label is part of the upload on YouTube. Keep a short note per upload: generated or edited, realistic or not, and what you answered. If you ever have to explain a label, that note is the whole record you need.

A good habit is to look at the finished clip the way a stranger would. If someone scrolling past would reasonably take it for filmed reality, it is on the realistic side. If it reads as a cartoon, a painting or an obvious fantasy, it is on the other side or outside the disclosure rule altogether. Sume's generation endpoint can produce either look, so the realism is decided by your prompt and your reference images, and you can decide it deliberately before you spend on a render.

One more practical point: the label belongs to the YouTube upload, not to the file. If you post the same Sume render to several places, each platform has its own disclosure flow and its own wording, so a note kept with the file saves you from guessing later what you declared on which site.