YouTube's first-ever video is now in a museum so visitors can 'see' what changed the internet
The video featuring the YouTube co-founder at the San Diego Zoo has 385 million views.
Jawed Karim (@jawed), co-founder of YouTube, was the first person to upload a video on the streaming platform. Now, it's being honored in a museum for its historic value.
On April 23, 2005, Karim, a software engineer, released a 19-second video of himself talking to a low-resolution camera while standing in front of elephants at the San Diego Zoo. At first glance, you may not see anything special, but it changed the way the world shares and consumes content forever. The twenty-year-old YouTube video has 385 million views as of March 23.
Karim appeared a bit nervous as he shot the first-ever content to be uploaded on YouTube. "All right, so here we are, in front of the elephants... the cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really long trunks, and that's cool," he said, mustering courage. Karim, however, couldn't stretch any further. He turned back to look at the elephants before abruptly ending the video. "...and that's pretty much all there is to say," Karim concluded.
The YouTube video released almost 21 years ago was titled "Me at the Zoo." Notably, the video is on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, according to an official YouTube blog post. "Visitors can experience this piece of history in the Design 1900 — Now gallery at the V&A South Kensington, while a behind-the-scenes look at the technical reconstruction will be hosted at the V&A East Storehouse," the report explained.
YouTube, a global 'free' streaming platform, was founded on Valentine's Day in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, former PayPal employees. In fact, creators say the idea was born at a dinner party in San Francisco nearly a year ago, according to a report by Interesting Engineering. The founders apparently wanted people to have an easier way to find and share content online.
"Video, we felt, really wasn’t being addressed on the Internet. People were collecting video clips on their cell phones...but there was no easy way to share [them]," Hurley had said in an early interview. To everyone's surprise, the project received an overwhelming response, and within 6 months, YouTube had its first video with one million views. Notably, it was a Nike commercial featuring Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho receiving his pair of Golden Boots. Finally, in October 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion.
Today, YouTube has become one of the fastest-growing and most widely used global platforms. In fact, according to Variety, YouTube generated over $60 billion in revenue in 2025, including both advertising and subscriptions. It means the free streaming platform surpassed Netflix, which generated only $45.18 billion in revenue for the full year 2025. Moreover, YouTube reportedly earned more money from advertising in the fourth quarter of 2025 than it ever has. Something that began as a small project by three ambitious PayPal employees for sharing everyday moments has transformed into a hub for creators and viewers, becoming the most powerful tool for communication on Earth.
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