2d ago

OpenAI will provide $2 million in tokens to every startup in the current Y Combinator batch in exchange for equity

Sam Altman presented the offer at a Y Combinator event.

4
Original post

A mic drop moment @ycombinator tonight @sama just offered $2M in OpenAI tokens to EVERY YC startup in the current batch in exchange for equity Just like Yuri Milner offering to invest in every startup back when Sam was a YC partner I can't wait to see what's unlocked when you let the most driven, creative and formidable founders tokenmaxx

6:46 PM · May 19, 2026 View on X
Reposted by

three of the things we are most excited about:

1. AGI accelerating research 2. AGI accelerating companies 3. personal AGI accelerating everyone in achieving their goals

today it was great to announce the unit distance result.

yesterday it was great to announce that we are offering to invest $2M in openai credits into every YC company.

now we need to increase our efforts on the third!

9:56 PM · May 20, 2026 · 653.3K Views

i am excited to see what will happen with tokenmaxxing startups, both for how they work internally and the products they can build.

openai offered to invest $2M in tokens into every startup in the current yc batch.

happy building!

Tyler BosmenyTyler Bosmeny@bosmeny

A mic drop moment @ycombinator tonight @sama just offered $2M in OpenAI tokens to EVERY YC startup in the current batch in exchange for equity Just like Yuri Milner offering to invest in every startup back when Sam was a YC partner I can't wait to see what's unlocked when you let the most driven, creative and formidable founders tokenmaxx

1:46 AM · May 20, 2026 · 2.2M Views
3:00 AM · May 20, 2026 · 1.1M Views

OpenAI for YC companies:

Y CombinatorY Combinator@ycombinator

OpenAI is offering $2M in tokens to every YC company in the spring and summer batches. We extended the summer deadline to May 25 so more founders can get in on it. http://ycombinator.com/apply

8:14 PM · May 21, 2026 · 346K Views
10:00 PM · May 21, 2026 · 61.7K Views

openai offering to invest $2M in API credits in every @ycombinator startup in the current batch. compute for powering the next generation of startups.

Tyler BosmenyTyler Bosmeny@bosmeny

A mic drop moment @ycombinator tonight @sama just offered $2M in OpenAI tokens to EVERY YC startup in the current batch in exchange for equity Just like Yuri Milner offering to invest in every startup back when Sam was a YC partner I can't wait to see what's unlocked when you let the most driven, creative and formidable founders tokenmaxx

1:46 AM · May 20, 2026 · 2.2M Views
4:01 AM · May 20, 2026 · 114.5K Views

Tokenmaxxing confirmed

Tyler BosmenyTyler Bosmeny@bosmeny

A mic drop moment @ycombinator tonight @sama just offered $2M in OpenAI tokens to EVERY YC startup in the current batch in exchange for equity Just like Yuri Milner offering to invest in every startup back when Sam was a YC partner I can't wait to see what's unlocked when you let the most driven, creative and formidable founders tokenmaxx

1:46 AM · May 20, 2026 · 2.2M Views
2:54 AM · May 20, 2026 · 38.5K Views

@Jason @DylanSLiu At Rackspace I handed out same to startups.

Most profitable marketing we did.

Some of them turned into huge customers.

@jason@jason@Jason

Fair warning, YC founders: if you take these tokens, there’s a non-zero chance that OpenAI will study exactly what your startup is doing, copy your idea and put your app into their free offering. This is the classic platform playbook — be careful, founders!

2:08 AM · May 20, 2026 · 414.6K Views
4:56 AM · May 20, 2026 · 1.4K Views

@sama Can I use my personal AGI to build my moon base

Sam AltmanSam Altman@sama

three of the things we are most excited about: 1. AGI accelerating research 2. AGI accelerating companies 3. personal AGI accelerating everyone in achieving their goals today it was great to announce the unit distance result. yesterday it was great to announce that we are offering to invest $2M in openai credits into every YC company. now we need to increase our efforts on the third!

9:56 PM · May 20, 2026 · 653.3K Views
10:07 PM · May 20, 2026 · 5.6K Views

1) Acceleration 2) Acceleration 3) Acceleration

Yeah, I think we're accelerating.

Sam AltmanSam Altman@sama

three of the things we are most excited about: 1. AGI accelerating research 2. AGI accelerating companies 3. personal AGI accelerating everyone in achieving their goals today it was great to announce the unit distance result. yesterday it was great to announce that we are offering to invest $2M in openai credits into every YC company. now we need to increase our efforts on the third!

9:56 PM · May 20, 2026 · 653.3K Views
11:40 PM · May 20, 2026 · 8.5K Views

@Jason That’s very true Jason. People need to be aware..

@jason@jason@Jason

Fair warning, YC founders: if you take these tokens, there’s a non-zero chance that OpenAI will study exactly what your startup is doing, copy your idea and put your app into their free offering. This is the classic platform playbook — be careful, founders!

2:08 AM · May 20, 2026 · 414.6K Views
5:52 AM · May 20, 2026 · 1.7K Views

Fair warning, YC founders: if you take these tokens, there’s a non-zero chance that OpenAI will study exactly what your startup is doing, copy your idea and put your app into their free offering.

This is the classic platform playbook — be careful, founders!

Tyler BosmenyTyler Bosmeny@bosmeny

A mic drop moment @ycombinator tonight @sama just offered $2M in OpenAI tokens to EVERY YC startup in the current batch in exchange for equity Just like Yuri Milner offering to invest in every startup back when Sam was a YC partner I can't wait to see what's unlocked when you let the most driven, creative and formidable founders tokenmaxx

1:46 AM · May 20, 2026 · 2.2M Views
2:08 AM · May 20, 2026 · 414.6K Views

Kind of a brilliant move from Sam.

Discounted investing terms ($2m in tokens at their retail price, not OpenAI’s cost).

Tyler BosmenyTyler Bosmeny@bosmeny

A mic drop moment @ycombinator tonight @sama just offered $2M in OpenAI tokens to EVERY YC startup in the current batch in exchange for equity Just like Yuri Milner offering to invest in every startup back when Sam was a YC partner I can't wait to see what's unlocked when you let the most driven, creative and formidable founders tokenmaxx

1:46 AM · May 20, 2026 · 2.2M Views
3:39 AM · May 20, 2026 · 18.4K Views

@sama @ycombinator $2m in tokens in exchange for equity?

Sam AltmanSam Altman@sama

i am excited to see what will happen with tokenmaxxing startups, both for how they work internally and the products they can build. openai offered to invest $2M in tokens into every startup in the current yc batch. happy building!

3:00 AM · May 20, 2026 · 1.1M Views
3:32 AM · May 20, 2026 · 3.1K Views

@Jason This must sound so smart if you’re stupid

@jason@jason@Jason

Fair warning, YC founders: if you take these tokens, there’s a non-zero chance that OpenAI will study exactly what your startup is doing, copy your idea and put your app into their free offering. This is the classic platform playbook — be careful, founders!

2:08 AM · May 20, 2026 · 414.6K Views
9:39 AM · May 20, 2026 · 15.1K Views
OpenAI will provide $2 million in tokens to every startup in the current Y Combinator batch in exchange for equity · Digg