Y Combinator is doubling down on artificial intelligence for its Spring 2025 batch, with applications closing February 11. The prestigious accelerator program, which invests $500,000 in every selected company, is specifically targeting startups working on AI agents, GPU infrastructure optimization, and AI-enabled security solutions.
The three-month program, running from April to June in San Francisco, typically receives tens of thousands of applications for just a few hundred spots. YC’s alumni roster includes industry giants like Stripe, Airbnb, DoorDash, Coinbase, and Instacart, making acceptance highly competitive.
AI Agents Take Center Stage
YC partners, including president and CEO Garry Tan and group partners Diana Hu and Michael Seibel, published their latest “Requests for Startups” post outlining priority areas. The firm sees AI personal assistants as transformative tools capable of democratizing services previously available only to the wealthy—such as accountants, lawyers, personal trainers, and private tutors. These agents could automate scheduling, email organization, travel planning, and tasks across verticals including customer support, marketing, legal, and healthcare.
Partner Dalton Caldwell envisions a new B2A (Business-to-Agent) market, where AI agents themselves become customers requiring APIs for hosting credits, travel booking, and contract engagement.
Infrastructure Innovation Needed
As AI complexity grows, YC is seeking startups that can improve test-time compute, reduce latency, and enhance model performance. The accelerator wants founders with systems programming expertise to build optimized compilers, new programming languages, and breakthroughs in operating systems. There’s particular interest in data center innovation—facilities that can be built faster and at lower cost to support AI infrastructure needs, including power, cooling, and material procurement.
Following DeepSeek’s recent launch of open-source AI models competing with OpenAI at a fraction of the cost, YC sees opportunities in AI commercial open-source software (AICOSS), providing commercial support that big tech companies typically don’t offer.
Security and Compliance Solutions
YC is also prioritizing document security, audit automation, and AI software distribution. The firm wants an AI-powered “DocuSign 2.0” that simplifies document creation, auto-fills information, and guides users through complex sections. Additionally, there’s demand for AI-powered compliance tools that automate risk assessments, reporting, and regulatory monitoring—plus a new AI App Store that protects user data while offering developer infrastructure and helping users discover AI applications.
Key Quotes
Software is a proven way to bring to everyone what only the rich could afford before. Over the next few years, we expect AI to get good enough to do most of these jobs.
Group partner David Lieb explained YC’s vision for AI democratizing professional services like accounting, legal advice, and personal training—services historically accessible only to wealthy individuals.
With the advent of AI and agents, it seems like it’s a good idea to build software and services where agents as customers are actively supported and documented rather than an edge case.
YC partner Dalton Caldwell outlined the emerging B2A (Business-to-Agent) market opportunity, where AI agents themselves become paying customers for services like hosting, travel booking, and contract management.
There’s room to rebuild the stack here: better software at inference-layer tooling, cheaper ways to handle GPU workloads, and optimizations that let AI apps scale without bleeding money.
Group partner Diana Hu highlighted the critical need for AI infrastructure improvements, emphasizing cost efficiency and scalability as key challenges for the next generation of AI applications.
There are going to be many winners in the space of open source AI, but the launch of DeepSeek should provide ample new ground that a founder might want to cover to help businesses make use of these systems.
Dalton Caldwell referenced the recent DeepSeek disruption, suggesting the Chinese company’s cost-effective open-source models create opportunities for startups to build commercial support and tooling around open-source AI.
Our Take
Y Combinator’s laser focus on AI infrastructure and agents reveals a maturing market moving beyond proof-of-concept to production-ready solutions. The timing is significant—publishing an RFS just three months after the previous one underscores AI’s breakneck pace.
The B2A concept is particularly intriguing, suggesting we’re approaching an economy where AI agents conduct transactions autonomously. This could dwarf the API economy in scale and complexity.
DeepSeek’s mention is telling. YC is essentially validating that cost-effective, open-source AI is the future, not just proprietary models from OpenAI and Anthropic. This democratization could trigger an explosion of specialized AI applications.
The security and compliance focus addresses a critical gap—as AI becomes ubiquitous, governance frameworks lag dangerously behind. Startups solving these problems could become essential infrastructure, similar to how Stripe became indispensable for payments. YC is betting that the next wave of billion-dollar companies will build the picks and shovels for the AI gold rush.
Why This Matters
This announcement signals where Silicon Valley’s most influential startup accelerator sees the AI industry heading in 2025 and beyond. Y Combinator’s focus areas often predict broader market trends, as the program has launched companies now worth hundreds of billions collectively.
The emphasis on AI agents represents a fundamental shift from AI as a tool to AI as an autonomous actor in the economy. The proposed B2A market could create entirely new business models and economic relationships, fundamentally changing how commerce operates.
The infrastructure focus, particularly following DeepSeek’s disruption, acknowledges that AI development is becoming more democratized and cost-effective. This could accelerate innovation by lowering barriers to entry, allowing smaller startups to compete with tech giants. YC’s call for faster, cheaper data centers addresses a critical bottleneck in AI scaling.
For entrepreneurs, this RFS provides a roadmap of validated opportunities backed by one of tech’s most successful investors. For the broader tech industry, it suggests AI is moving from experimental to essential, requiring robust infrastructure, security frameworks, and practical applications that solve real business problems rather than just showcasing technological capabilities.
Recommended Reading
For those interested in learning more about artificial intelligence, machine learning, and effective AI communication, here are some excellent resources:
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/what-y-combinator-is-looking-for-ai-startups-2025-2