Y Combinator applications are getting longer, with more em dashes. Guess why.

If it talks for illustration AI, and it walks for illustration AI, it mightiness conscionable beryllium AI.

An exertion to the startup accelerator Y Combinator includes respective written prompts. Founders request to explicate really they picked the idea, who their competitors are, and really they'll make money. Many techies person offloaded their penning skills to AI — and exertion information suggests it shows successful their applications.

YC applications person grown by 60% successful magnitude complete the past 3 years, according to partner Tyler Bosmeny. "I wonderment what could explicate that..." he wrote connected X.

Pete Koomen, different YC partner, wrote connected X that he noticed a difference. He thought: "Back successful my time (one twelvemonth ago) founders didn't talk for illustration this."

The connection "wedge" began to emergence successful prevalence successful 2025, according to a chart Koomen shared. By the summertime 2026 batch, the connection was successful astir 20% of applications.

Em dashes took disconnected a spot earlier, starting successful 2023 and accelerating successful 2024. By the summertime 2025 batch, em dashes were utilized successful complete 50% of YC applications, according to the data.

Koomen pointed retired that the spacing of the em dashes mattered. The usage of em dashes pinch spaces astir them (so spaced — precisely — for illustration this) spiked successful summertime 2025. That's besides erstwhile "wedge" spiked, Koomen said, and coincides pinch the motorboat of Anthropic's Opus 4.

The results aren't uniform. One of the suspected trademark words of AI-generated penning is "delve." Koomen recovered that it spiked successful wintertime 2024 — but ne'er appeared successful much than 1.25% of applications.

Should I usage AI successful my Y Combinator application?

Y Combinator doesn't person circumstantial guidance astir AI usage successful its applications, dissimilar immoderate companies for illustration Anthropic. Its erstwhile and existent leaders person shared immoderate conflicting viewpoints.

CEO Garry Tan said he writes pinch AI during an quality connected the "Naval" podcast successful July.

"I judge do," Tan said. "You caught me."

Tan said that you tin "fix" erstwhile AI writes poorly. When 1 of the podcast hosts said that bully penning was a merchandise of bully thinking, Tan countered that he was having "high-bandwidth conversations" pinch an AI model.

Paul Graham, YC's retired cofounder, has taken a much antagonistic view. In May, he posted connected X astir the emails he received from founders, which were written successful a "hard-hitting journalistic style."

These emails are written by AI, Graham wrote. He instantly moves on: "It feels for illustration being lied to, and who would guidelines for that?"

Graham has besides narrowed successful connected the connection "delve." It's not that he dislikes the word, he wrote successful 2024, but that it's a motion of ChatGPT use.

Still, YC seems invested successful the early of AI-generated writing. There are astatine slightest 2 YC-backed startups that specialize successful it.