Y Combinator (YC), the renowned San Francisco-based startup accelerator, is set to host its inaugural AI Startup School on June 16-17, 2025, in San Francisco. This complimentary event aims to convene 2,000 top AI students and researchers, providing them with insights from industry leaders.
Event Highlights:
- Distinguished Speakers: The conference will feature prominent figures such as Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla), Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI), Andrej Karpathy (OpenAI co-founder), and Fei-Fei Li (CEO of World Labs), among others.
- Eligibility: The event is open to final-year undergraduates, master’s, and PhD candidates specializing in AI, as well as recent graduates in fields like computer science, applied mathematics, robotics, and AI research.
- Financial Support: YC will provide up to $500 for airfare and assist attendees in securing accommodation with San Francisco-based founders.
In addition to the AI Startup School, YC has announced that applications for its first-ever Spring 2025 batch are currently open. The deadline to apply is February 11, 2025, at 8 pm PT, with decisions communicated by March 12, 2025. The Spring batch will run from April to June 2025 in San Francisco.
Traditionally, YC operated two batches annually: the Summer Batch (June to September) and the Winter Batch (January to April). Starting in 2024, YC expanded to four batches per year, adding Spring and Fall sessions to accommodate the increasing number of startups, especially in the AI sector.
Since its inception in 2005, YC has invested in over 4,500 companies, including notable names like Airbnb, Meesho, Zepto, Dropbox, Stripe, and Reddit. As of 2022, YC’s standard deal involves investing $500,000 in each selected startup.
For more information and to apply for the Spring 2025 batch, visit YC’s official application page.
To join the waitlist for the AI Startup School, please register here.
Note: The above information is accurate as of February 9, 2025. For the most current details, please refer to Y Combinator’s official communications.