YC Spring 2026 Request for Startups Breakdown

everything you need to know about YC's latest spring 2026 "request for startups" worth reading what YC wants YOU to build a business around: 1. cursor for product managers engineers already have ai writing code but now yc wants ai that decides what to build. you feed it customer calls and usage data, it spits out “build this next” plus tasks agents can ship. 2. ai-native hedge funds not humans using ai. ai is the fund. agents read filings, earnings, research, place trades, and invent strategies humans wouldn’t think of. 3. ai-native agencies agencies that feel like software companies. use ai internally, sell finished work, charge more, hire fewer people, scale without adding headcount. productized agencies are back? 4. stablecoin financial services banks built on stablecoins. faster payments, better yield, global money movement without full crypto chaos. the rails are finally here. 5. ai for government governments are drowning in digital forms. ai handles intake, routing, and processing so things stop moving at glacial speed. 6. modern metal mills factories rebuilt with software. ai runs planning, pricing, energy, and scheduling so steel and aluminum don’t take 30 weeks to ship. 7. ai for physical work ai that watches what you see and tells you what to do. hvac, nursing, manufacturing. training goes from years to days. tldr; 6 out of 7 ideas are AI they are bullish on ai that's forsure each idea replaces coordination, middle layers, and slow human glue with agents that actually act. it’s a great mental model even if you never apply to yc. these ideas force you to ask: where is work still getting stuck just because humans are in the loop? yc is giving you a map they are telling you what to build what a time to be alive