Y Combinator Launches AI Startup School to Foster Next-Gen AI Entrepreneurs "I'm proud to announce YC's first AI Startup School. It's a totally free conference bringing together the next top CS and AI minds in the world," Garry Tan, CEO and President, YC
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San Francisco-based startup accelerator Y Combinator (YC) is set to launch its first-ever AI Startup School, a free two-day event designed to bring together 2,000 of the brightest AI students and researchers. Scheduled for June 16-17, 2025, in San Francisco, the event aims to nurture the next generation of AI innovators by providing insights from some of the most influential figures in the industry.
Announcing the initiative on LinkedIn, Garry Tan, CEO and President at YC expressed excitement about the event's potential impact. "I'm proud to announce YC's first AI Startup School. It's a totally free conference bringing together the next top CS and AI minds in the world."
The event will feature prominent industry leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy, and World Labs CEO Fei-Fei Li, who will share their expertise on building the future of artificial intelligence.
The program is open to final-year undergraduate, master's, and PhD students, as well as recent graduates in computer science, applied mathematics, robotics, and AI research. To ensure accessibility, YC will provide up to USD 500 in airfare reimbursement and assist attendees in finding accommodation through its network of SF-based startup founders. Interested candidates can join the waitlist to secure a spot at the event.
The AI Startup School is part of YC's broader expansion strategy. Last month, the accelerator opened applications for its Spring 2025 batch, with a deadline of February 11, 2025, at 8 PM PT. Applicants will receive their results by March 12, 2025. This follows YC's decision, announced in September 2023, to increase its batch frequency from two to four per year. Previously, YC only hosted Summer (June-September) and Winter (January-April) cohorts, but with the addition of Spring and Fall batches, the accelerator is now offering more opportunities for startups to participate.
Since its establishment in 2005, YC has invested in over 4,500 startups, including major success stories like Airbnb, Meesho, Zepto, Dropbox, Stripe, and Reddit. The accelerator's standard deal, introduced in 2022, includes a USD 500,000 investment for each selected startup. With the launch of the AI Startup School, YC continues to solidify its role as a leading force in shaping the future of AI and entrepreneurship.
