Which YouTube co-founder appears in the video 'Me at the zoo'?

Jawed Karim appears in the video “Me at the zoo.” He is the YouTube co-founder shown speaking to the camera in the platform’s first uploaded video.

Uploaded on April 23, 2005, the 19-second clip shows Karim standing in front of two elephants at the San Diego Zoo. He comments briefly on the animals’ trunks. His high-school friend Yakov Lapitsky recorded the footage, making Karim the subject rather than the person behind the camera.

Karim co-founded YouTube with Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. The three had previously worked at PayPal, and Karim later served mainly as an adviser while returning to graduate study at Stanford. His smaller operational role sometimes causes him to be omitted from casual accounts of YouTube’s founding, but he is recognized as one of its three co-founders.

Another common mix-up is confusing the video’s subject with its producer or camera operator. Karim both uploaded the clip and appears in it; Lapitsky filmed it. The video remains a landmark because it introduced YouTube with an ordinary, personal moment rather than a polished production.