Substack is rolling out new AI-powered features for its livestreaming product, designed to automatically create highlight clips for YouTube Shorts and generate promotional materials, helping creators more easily market their content.

From stream to Shorts: The update’s headline feature helps creators turn their long-form streams into YouTube Shorts. An AI tool now identifies and packages highlight clips from live video recordings, giving creators real-time feedback on which moments are resonating most. Creators can then have the top two clips automatically pushed to their YouTube Shorts channel.

No more busywork: The company is also reducing friction in other parts of the livestreaming workflow. Scheduling a stream now automatically generates promotional assets for social channels, and the update makes collaboration easier by allowing co-hosts to be invited directly via email or SMS, removing a key barrier for guests who aren't on the platform.

Beyond the newsletter: The move marks the latest expansion of Substack’s video capabilities. The platform rolled out live video to all publishers earlier this year, and more recently introduced audio-only livestreams and a scrollable, TikTok-like video feed.

The bottom line: These tools move beyond just content creation, equipping creators to compete for audience attention in an economy dominated by short-form video. The new features are part of a broader investment in a video production suite for creators. The company has also emphasized that creator collaborations are a powerful growth strategy, a key context for its new, more flexible co-hosting tools.

Reading Recap:

• TechCrunch reports on the new livestreaming updates

• Substack’s guide to getting started with video

• How to schedule a livestream on the platform