YouTube expands auto-dubbing to 27 languages with ‘Expressive Speech’

YouTube has significantly enhanced its auto-dubbing feature, a tool now universally available that supports 27 languages. This major update aims to demolish language barriers and make global content more accessible by automatically translating and voicing videos.

The platform states this initiative is designed to help “global stories feel local,” while simultaneously giving creators and viewers more control. The feature’s rapid growth highlights its value, evidenced by over 6 million daily viewers spending a minimum of 10 minutes watching auto-dubbed videos in December.

The latest update goes beyond simply adding more languages; it focuses on making dubbed audio sound more realistic. The video streaming platform has introduced “Expressive Speech” for all channels in eight major languages, including English, Spanish, and French. This upgrade seeks to preserve a creator’s original tone, emotion, and energy, addressing long-standing complaints about robotic-sounding dubs.

Additionally, viewers now have more control over their experience. A new “Preferred Language” setting permits users to select whether they prefer to watch videos in their original language or in a dubbed version. While YouTube already uses watch history to choose a default language, this new option assists multilingual users in customizing their viewing experience more directly.

Looking ahead, YouTube is currently testing a lip-sync pilot to improve realism by aligning a speaker’s mouth movements with translated audio. Although this feature is still in the experimental stage, it aims to reduce the visual mismatch often seen in dubbed videos.

Creators are also gaining more safeguards. YouTube has introduced smart filtering to prevent unsuitable content—such as music-only videos and silent vlogs—from being dubbed. The platform assures creators that auto-dubbing will not negatively impact discoverability. Users can upload custom dubs, completely disable auto-dubbing, or control how their content appears across different languages, backing YouTube’s commitment to inclusive, global storytelling.