Tech

Y Combinator sees huge jump in AI-focused start-ups

Silicon Valley accelerator has funded more than 6,000 start-ups since 2005. The combined valuation of companies in its portfolio tops $600 billion.

Garry Tan, president and chief executive of Y Combinator which has previously backed companies such as Airbnb and Stripe

More than one-third of the famed start-up accelerator Y Combinator’s latest batch of companies are focused specifically on artificial intelligence.

Y Combinator received a record 24,000 applications for its latest cohort, and accepted just under 1 per cent of those, Garry Tan, president and chief executive of the accelerator, said Tuesday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. About 35 per cent of the companies selected for the program are AI-focused, he said, and as many ...