Hank and John Green's studio becomes a nonprofit as they aim to make 'trustworthy content' online

NEW YORK (AP) — Author-vloggers Hank and John Green often end their popular “Crash Course” videos with a donation appeal to keep the YouTube show “free for everyone forever.” The multihyphenate brothers now hope they've figured out a way to do just that — by changing their production studio's tax status.

Their educational media company Complexly, which has garnered billions of views through web series that explain just about every classroom subject from animal biology to Latin American literature, will now operate as a nonprofit.

The change is intended to ensure viewers have access to engaging, fact-based content that can compete free of advertisers' interests in the attention economy. It comes as artificial intelligence gives rise to absurdist “ brain rot ” and distorted deepfake images while public media struggles to make ends meet amid sudden cuts in federal funding.

“Part of what Complexly’s trying to do is create good information on the internet,” Hank told the Associated Press. “Let’s actually just say that this is our goal. Like, our goal isn’t to build a big company and sell it someday.”

“There’s never been more information and yet there’s never been less information that you feel you can trust," John added. "Our goal at Complexly has always been to make trustworthy content. And making Complexly a public good, for me, is the next step in that process.”

Nonprofit status has been a consideration for several years, according to Complexly CEO Julie Walsh Smith.

The studio already receives sizable philanthropic funding — including $4.8 million last year. The nonprofit's initial supporters are led by existing partners such as YouTube, PBS, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Other funders such as Arizona State University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute underwrite a number of “Crash Course” projects.

While about one-tenth of their revenue comes from a YouTube program that gives creators a share of advertising earnings, strong audience support made them confident in their ability to reach individual donors.

Complexly estimates that another tenth of their revenue comes from Patreon, a platform where fans can contribute to their favorite online creators often in exchange for bonus content. Monthly Patreon subscribers tend to give $5 or $10 to help them make shows such as “Crash Course.”

They also sell minted silver “Crash Course” coins every year that can cost thousands of dollars. Hank said they have relationships with the individuals who buy the most expensive versions of the coin — and that most of those high-dollar supporters have said they want to increase their support but maybe “felt a little weird” giving money to a for-profit entity.

The small donors provide general funds that Hank said give them flexibility to “invest in the ideas that we think are most likely to deliver impact through reach.”

It is "hard to do the thing that we have to do where we compete with MrBeast and cat videos and all of the very attention-grabbing dashcam fights that YouTube has to offer," he said. “But we really take that responsibility very seriously. We are not just here to make educational video. We are here to make educational video that people choose to watch. And so that's the fight that we are fighting."

The nonprofit transition requires Hank and John, best known for his young adult novels “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Looking for Alaska,” give up any equity they held in Complexly. While the Montana-headquartered nonprofit expects to maintain its staff of roughly 80 employees, Smith says its growth means they no longer require the founders’ “day-to-day leadership.”

John will move forward as “founder emeritus” — he doesn’t know exactly what that means but says he is “looking forward to finding out” — while Hank will join the nonprofit’s board of directors and continue hosting some shows.

“The way I like to think about it is they’re going from leaders of the organization to cheerleaders,” said Smith.

John promised that the viewing experience won't change much. If anything, he said, there are potential new shows “that have long been great ideas that weren't possible because they didn't make sense from a business perspective."

Complexly is committing $8.5 million to new content that neither its founders nor CEO would discuss yet. But Smith did say they are seeking additional funding for an upcoming series that will go behind the scenes at zoos and museums to spotlight the specimens they don't display.

As far as new mediums such as TikTok go, Smith said they're focused on YouTube while staying committed to being in the spaces “where audiences are spending their time.”

The duo has long tried to crack the economics of the internet.

They founded the crowdfunding platform Subbable in 2013 to help creators raise money for specific projects. There was even a point where Hank tried to form a union for creators, whose livelihoods are subject to the unpredictability of social media platforms' algorithmic priorities and advertising share models.

This shift wasn't motivated by any doubts about their business' health, they insisted, but rather other concerns.

“We've always worried about being overly reliant on advertising,” John said. “I think that an advertising-funded internet is a complicated place to live, as I've observed from the last 25 years of my life.”

By leaning into philanthropic funding, John says the desire is for Complexly to exist “for the good of the people who benefit from it” and not “for anyone else's benefit."

“That’s not the same path a lot of digital media companies take,” Smith said. “Often, they’ll put premium content behind paywalls or behind a subscription service. And we’re just never gonna do that.”

It's hardly their first foray into philanthropy.

The brothers say they have granted more than $17 million to dozens of charities through their Foundation to Decrease World Suck. They fund those donations with the profits from everyday purchases made on the Good Store, their online retailer.

That familiarity has made them aware of the fact that many nonprofits struggle with the nimbleness required of a digital production studio. But they emphasized that there are many ways to run a nonprofit. John noted that Partners in Health — one of the Good Store's charitable partners — track tuberculosis in Lesotho with an app that is “on par with anything being done in the private sector.”

“It's perfectly possible for nonprofits to be innovative and fast movers," John said. "It's just that you need to set that up from the beginning."

“Can we signal to other people that there is no reason why you can't do this and also model, as we go forward, that if that's a choice that other people want to make then there's good ways to do it?" Hank added.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Writer John Green poses in his studio in Indianapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Writer John Green poses in his studio in Indianapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Hank Green sits for a portrait at his studio in Missoula, Mont., on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

Hank Green sits for a portrait at his studio in Missoula, Mont., on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

FILE- This combination of photos show brothers John Green, left, and Hank Green. (AP Photo)

California Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui advanced to the November ballot on Friday after facing a reelection challenge from a younger Democrat.

Matsui, 81, has been in Congress since she replaced her late husband, former Rep. Bob Matsui, in the Sacramento-based seat in 2005.

In a statement referencing the upcoming runoff, Matsui vowed to “earn the trust of voters for another term in Congress.”

She faced a primary challenge from fellow Democrat Mai Vang, a member of the Sacramento City Council, and is one of several older Democrats challenged by younger insurgents this year. The second slot on the general election ballot has not yet been determined, but Vang issued a statement saying she was optimistic with the direction in which the count was moving.

“This is what people power looks like,” Vang said.

Two other House Democrats facing younger challengers, Reps. Brad Sherman in Los Angeles and Mike Thompson in Northern California, advanced to the general election as well.

But California's House primaries were most significant for being the first test of whether Democrats are able to add five potential pickups after they persuaded voters to let them redraw the electoral map last year.

The redistricting was sold as a countermeasure to Republican efforts to gain seats by reworking maps in states they control, including Texas.

Heading into Tuesday’s election, Democrats worried that California’s primary format, which sends the top two vote-getters to the general election regardless of party, could lead to them getting locked out of a seat they drew to their advantage in the San Diego’s suburbs.

That did not happen, as San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert advanced to face Republican Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor.

Democrats are at risk of being shut out of another district they expected to pick up, in Sacramento’s suburbs — though the danger of that dimmed Friday as Democratic former state Sen. Richard Pan moved into the top two for the first time. Tens of thousands of more ballots remain to be tallied, and it is too soon to know who will make it to November.

Another redrawn district, which straddles Orange and Riverside counties in Southern California, favors Republicans. GOP Rep. Ken Calvert has advanced to the November election in the 40th District but does not yet know who his opponent will be. He had a bruising primary fight with fellow Republican Rep. Young Kim, whom Democrats drew into a new district that includes areas Calvert previously represented.

In San Francisco a wealthy progressive challenger was unable to crack the top two slots to fill retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s seat. Instead state Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan will face off to replace the former House speaker.

And in the Central Valley, Republican Rep. David Valadao, widely considered one of the most vulnerable House Republicans, is waiting to see if he will face centrist Democrat and Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains or progressive political science professor and school board member Randy Villegas in November.

Several races cannot be called yet because of California's typical drawn-out election count, in which mail ballots that tend to come from more Democratic areas are counted later, eroding conservatives' traditional leads in votes reported on election night.

Trump has previously seized on the count to baselessly alleged fraud and did so again Thursday, adding that his Justice Department would investigate the state over it. A federal prosecutor toured Los Angeles' main vote-counting facility on Friday.

Voters cast their ballots for the California primary election on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif.. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Sacramento council member Mai Vang, who is running for Congress, speaks at her election night party in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday,, June 2, 2026.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., speaks during an election night event Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)