# Sam Altman has a proposition for startup founders: AI tokens for equity > Source: > Published: 2026-06-04 03:42:12+00:00 Before some startup founders raise their Series A, they'll be raising AI tokens. OpenAI CEO [Sam Altman](https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-legal-battle-musk-ipo-anthropic-2026-5) announced a new offer for Y Combinator's current batch of founders: fork over some equity, and OpenAI will offer up $2 million in API tokens. YC general partner Tyler Bosmeny [called it](https://x.com/bosmeny/status/2056914385814401238) a "mic drop moment." "I am excited to see what will happen with tokenmaxxing startups, both for how they work internally and the products they can build," Altman wrote [on X](https://x.com/sama/status/2056933166875857290?s=46&t=tEsLJXJnGFIkaWs-Bhs1yA). "Happy building!" The pilot program will be available for spring and summer 2026 batches of the Y Combinator startup accelerator, according to a person familiar with the offering. A mic drop moment — Tyler Bosmeny (@bosmeny)[@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…[pic.twitter.com/5KlRA2lNGj][May 20, 2026] The person familiar with the offering said that participating startups [will sign](https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-founders-safe-notes-amid-funding-gold-rush-from-vc-investors-2024-5) an uncapped Simple Agreement for Future Equity, or SAFE, agreement. That means OpenAI's eventual ownership stake would be determined in a future financing round, rather than being fixed upfront. The SAFE will not include a Most Favored Nation, or MFN, provision, the person said. In other words, if a startup later issues another SAFE with better terms, OpenAI would not automatically receive those terms. By contrast, the $375,000 uncapped SAFE in Y Combinator's [standard deal](https://www.ycombinator.com/deal/) does include an MFN provision. The accelerator's startups often already score [steep token discounts](https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-tokenmaxxing-token-quotas-2026-4). The partners do, too; Ankit Gupta wrote [on X](https://x.com/agupta/status/2056959404323357015) that "one of the clutch perks of being a partner at YC is having unlimited budget to spend on tokens." Not all were fans of the deal. Investor and "All-In" cohost Jason Calacanis [told founders](https://x.com/Jason/status/2056919949810028942) to "be careful," warning that OpenAI could one day incorporate a startup's idea into their own product. Y Combinator did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Roshan Kumaraswamy, who founded the YC-backed startup Apten, [responded to](https://x.com/roshan_k_/status/2056962617617604817?s=20) Calacanis: "The startups are buying openai tokens anyways..." Altman's deal is a twist on traditional investing — and yet another sign of how AI is changing startup economics. Tokens are a measurement of computing that help determine bills for AI usage, such as operating an AI coding agent or processing a chatbot conversation. While many new companies are now running [with leaner teams](https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-execs-on-pros-cons-managing-tiny-teams-2026-5), they're racking up high token bills in the process. Y Combinator incentivized this change. In a recent episode of the accelerator's ["Startup School" series](https://www.businessinsider.com/y-combinator-advice-ai-native-company-tokenmaxx-leaner-teams-headcount-2026-5), partner Diana Hu advised founders to embrace tokenmaxxing over headcountmaxxing.(Translation: spend your budget on AI tokens, not new employees.) Altman himself has a long history of funding startups, especially through Y Combinator. He served as the accelerator's president from 2014 to 2019. Some of Altman's investments came up during his trial with Elon Musk. His stake in Helion Energy, for example, was worth [more than $1.6 billion](https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-investments-in-startups-helion-cerebras-reddit-2026-5) as of the end of 2025. The Y Combinator deal will run through OpenAI, rather than Altman personally, per his X post.