Alphabet owns YouTube, the video-sharing platform founded in 2005 and acquired by Google the following year.
YouTube was created by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. The first video, “Me at the zoo,” was uploaded by Karim on April 23, 2005. Google announced its acquisition of YouTube in October 2006 for $1.65 billion in Google stock.
Google became a subsidiary of Alphabet when Alphabet was created in 2015. YouTube therefore sits within Alphabet’s wider corporate structure, alongside Google Search, Android, and other businesses.
YouTube is often confused with Vimeo or Twitch because all are associated with online video. Their histories and ownership differ: Vimeo and Twitch were not founded by YouTube’s creators, and Twitch is primarily associated with live streaming and gaming.