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Key Takeaways Y Combinator leaders say that founders are increasingly submitting AI-generated responses to application prompts.
The acclaimed startup accelerator has seen more applications that use the word “wedge” and sprinkle in em dashes, both signs of AI writing.
YC applications have also increased in length by 60% over the past three years, a signal that founders are using AI to write lengthier responses.
Y Combinator (YC), a well-known startup accelerator that helped launch companies like Reddit, DoorDash and Airbnb, has invested in more than 5,000 startups since 2005. Now YC leaders note that founders seem to be outsourcing writing their applications to AI.
The YC application requires founders to explain how they selected their idea, identify competitors in the space and outline their plans to generate revenue. Some tell-tale signs reveal that many tech-focused founders have recently decided to use AI to write answers to these questions.
One giveaway is the longer responses that AI produces. According to YC partner Tyler Bosmeny, YC applications have increased in length by 60% over the past three years. “I wonder what could explain that…” he wrote on X earlier this week.
Another YC partner, Pete Koomen, spent a week reading applications. He wrote in an X post this week that “back in my day (one year ago) founders didn’t talk like this.” He shared a chart showing that the percentage of applications containing the word “wedge” went from less than 1% in spring 2025 to greater than 20% in summer 2026.
Meanwhile, em dashes, another AI giveaway, started growing in use in 2023 and “really hit their stride in 24,” Koomen said. According to the data he shared, by summer 2025, more than 50% of YC applications used em dashes.
Koomen emphasized that the spacing of those em dashes was important. Em dashes with spaces around them spiked in use in summer 2025, around the same time that the word “wedge” became more popular. These signs of AI use coincided with the launch of Anthropic’s Opus 4 AI model, he said.
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