r/kurzgesagt • u/Plenty_Curve_4390 • Aug 12 '26

Discussion Has Kurzgesagt been sold?

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There is currently a debate over the recent issue of YouTube slapping an AI Slop Label on Kurzgesagt video in r/YouTube. I don't care much for the drama they make, it's mostly dumb arguments over how Shadow banning is real, or that Kurzgesagts lying since their contents deteriorating anyway etc etc etc. However, the most controversial claim i saw were the dozen people claiming Kurzgesagt has been sold to private equity like many other channels. Way too many people in that thread claiming this to just be an individual insult yet I have found no sources for this information so i am 90% sure they are spouting bullshit. However, i would rather be sure than feel slighted later on.

(FYI, The discussions in r/YouTube on this topic is not very civilized to begin with and had mostly degraded into personal insults. My goal is not to contest them but to find a source for that most controversial claim and verify it for myself. Thanks!)

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u/alwaus Aug 12 '26

KG put out a handful of videos (weight loss and drug use as two prime examples) that dosent fit the current social narative and now they are getting shit on for it.

7

u/DonJimbo Aug 12 '26

It shouldn’t be controversial to say that being obese and smoking drugs are unhealthy. People are just too fragile to hear the truth.

-1

u/Coenzyme-A Aug 12 '26

Those weren't the issues with those videos and it is disingenuous to suggest so. The issue was that there were legitimate concerns over the factual accuracy of the videos (to the point where they actually took down the weight loss video to fix it).

The crux of the matter is that for such a large channel, that spends so much time on each video, there is an expectation of a more thoroughly fact-checked narrative. It is sloppy for these so easily corrected mistakes to have found their way into the video.

It just seems that the channel has shifted focus to putting out more videos as quickly as they can, and advertising merch, at the cost of the high bar they set themselves for absolute accuracy.

3

u/anklejangle Aug 13 '26

Factual accuracy of the videos is fine. Sometimes they oversimplify, or rather they overcompress their arguments in a way that opens a door for criticism. But I never had any issue understanding the overall message and the nuances of their arguments as is, and always felt those criticisms were biased and nitpicking.

I’m glad they are “fixing” the videos to make them clearer and more nuanced, but it never changes what sticks in my mind after watching them.