Sam Altman is descending from his post as president of Y Combinator. The startup accelerator said on Friday, a pivotal change for the influential organization in building startups such as Airbnb, Dropbox Inc, and Cruise.
As YC’s second-ever president, Altman spent five years expanding the program’s reach and scale. He has become one of the startup industry’s most outspoken leaders on universal basic earnings and artificial intelligence’s safety and moral implications. He contributed the last five years in developing the program’s reach and estimates to go beyond emerging startups and devised a separate fund and training program for larger, more sophisticated tech companies. Under his guidance, YC has also expanded into China and annexed various other startup programs.
Altman will continue as chairman of the organization, contributing more time to artificial intelligence applications, including Open AI, a non-profit research association he co-chairs. Meanwhile, YC intends to move north from Mountain View, California, to San Francisco to be closer to its Bay Area alumni, who disproportionately live and operate in the city. YC plans to offer a startup program to which aspiring entrepreneurs can apply to obtain mentorship and a $150,000 investment. Also, engage in a three-month boot camp to work on their startup idea. YC gained a reputation in the tech industry after numerous startups completed the program to accomplish high valuations and be acquired by big organizations. Cruise, for instance, was acquired by General Motors Co for $1 billion, and Airbnb, valued at $31 billion, is planning for an IPO this year.