Google's Gemini will help stage the 2026 MAMA Awards, and YouTube will stream the show worldwide

K-pop’s biggest awards show is bringing Google’s AI into the production room. Google announced on October 30, 2026 that the 2026 MAMA Awards will stream live on YouTube, and that the show’s production team is using Gemini for everything from pre-show promo to the opening video and key stages.

The ceremony runs November 20 and 21, 2026, at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan. YouTube joins the show’s existing TV and streaming channels, including Mnet Plus.

What Gemini will do at the 2026 MAMA Awards in Osaka

According to Google Korea’s announcement, the MAMA Awards crew uses Gemini across 3 parts of production:

• Before the show: planning the pre-show promotional content.
• The opening: the opening video of the main ceremony.
• On stage: production of the key highlight performances.

Google pitches it as the MAMA team’s own staging know-how plus Gemini, aimed at “a new kind of stage that pairs K-pop performances with advanced technology,” as Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

Google also left a lot out. Korea IT Times points out that the announcement doesn’t name the specific tasks, the models, or how the production team reviews and edits what Gemini produces. So right now, “Gemini helps” could mean brainstorming concepts or generating visuals that end up on the big screens behind the artists.

That’s the production side. The bigger change for fans outside Korea is how they’ll watch.

How to watch the 2026 MAMA Awards on YouTube

YouTube will livestream the ceremony in Korea and other major regions. Google adds a footnote that viewing may be restricted in some countries depending on local broadcasting rights, and it hasn’t published the full country list yet.

Around the show, Google plans YouTube Music playlists and YouTube Stations built from the nominees and performers, plus Shorts and live chat on the day. YouTube also attaches its name to one of the genre awards, BEST MUSIC VIDEO with YouTube.

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Google and YouTube will wholeheartedly support K-pop's spectacular visual storytelling and artists' creativity in reaching the world, on both the technology and the platform side.

Why Gemini at the MAMA Awards is a test for AI in K-pop

AI in K-pop is a touchy subject this month. The AI boy group muuo:23 drew a fan backlash with its pre-debut single, and rapper Northface God deleted a music video that used an AI likeness of T1’s Faker.

The MAMA Awards deal puts AI tools behind the scenes of performances by human artists. Google also has its own music model, and it recently put Lyria 3.5 inside the Gemini app, but this announcement doesn’t mention AI-made music at all.

On the YouTube side, the timing lines up with YouTube Music’s new AI labels on songs. If Gemini-made visuals show up in the broadcast, how Google labels them is the next question. The first answers come on November 20, when the opening stage goes live from Osaka.