New YPP Requirements

Starting Feb 1, 2027, new channels need 8,000 watch hours (up from 4,000) or 20M Shorts views in 90 days (up from 10M) to join the YouTube Partner Program.
This is a significant increase and I wonder if this is in response to the number of faceless AI channels that are coming online.
For creators that haven't reached monetization status yet - I'd love to hear your feelings on this and how we can be of guidance to get you over the threshold.