The underlying assumptions in this post don't really make sense for an organization like YC.
It's probably a good idea for YC to have some thesis about which technologies will be big, and "AI" is probably a good bet. The entire point of investing in so many AI startups is that I'm quite sure YC expects the vast, vast majority to fail (for various definitions of "fail"). But I think most people believe that there will be very few winners in the AI space (like pretty much all the other tech spaces over the past 20 years), so the biggest fears of someone like a YC is not getting in in those one or two AI companies that made it big.
Concentration and diversification are fundamentally opposed in risk management.
It’s ludicrous to suggest that somehow YC is “immune” to the risks that are associated with concentration of investment in one area.
I don’t buy the “we pick founders not technology” argument.
Rubbish. It’s a hype bubble. You’re seeing that as emergent behaviour because it gets funding; there’s no amount of hand waving that makes any of the risks in the parent comment either a) wrong, or b) YC somehow magically exempt from.
Are you seriously suggesting that YC just doesn’t do risk management or cross-startup risk analysis?
It's probably a good idea for YC to have some thesis about which technologies will be big, and "AI" is probably a good bet. The entire point of investing in so many AI startups is that I'm quite sure YC expects the vast, vast majority to fail (for various definitions of "fail"). But I think most people believe that there will be very few winners in the AI space (like pretty much all the other tech spaces over the past 20 years), so the biggest fears of someone like a YC is not getting in in those one or two AI companies that made it big.