This Week at YC: AI Safety Insights, W27 Applications, and Portfolio Funding

This Week at YC: AI Safety Insights, W27 Applications, and Portfolio Funding The October 18th edition of This Week at YC highlights expert discussions on AI safety research, the opening of YC W27 applications, Cisco's AI infrastructure growth, and funding milestones across portfolio companies. Stanford Center for AI Safety co-directors Clark Barrett and Mykel Kochenderfer discussed safety science, formal verification, and an NTSB model for AI. Applications for the YC W27 batch opened with a submission deadline of November 2nd. Cisco President and CPO Jeetu Patel reported that the company's AI infrastructure business grew from zero to $9.3B in orders within two years. Multiple YC companies announced funding rounds across robotics, biotechnology, aviation, and healthcare operations. YC Discussions and Program Updates The YC Paper Club featured Stanford professors Clark Barrett and Mykel Kochenderfer examining the technical science behind AI safety, referencing aircraft collision avoidance benchmarks requiring less than one catastrophic failure per billion flight hours, the OpenAI–Hugging Face incident, and formal verification. In another feature, Cisco President and CPO Jeetu Patel detailed scaling Cisco's AI infrastructure segment to $9.3B in orders over two years alongside lessons on data center expansion and operational mindset. Additionally, Y Combinator announced that applications for the W27 batch are open through November 2nd. Community Funding Highlights Several YC portfolio companies secured fresh capital across specialized sectors: Ultra raised $62M for its robots-as-a-service model, Sensible Bio secured $47M for an mRNA therapy manufacturing platform, and an unnamed robotics startup raised $75M to automate drug production. In agriculture and aerospace, Molagri raised $5.8M to develop updatable biopesticides, while French startup HyLight raised €13M to build autonomous airships. In health tech, Vitalize secured $31M to expand an AI operating system for hospital staffing and scheduling.

YC本周动态：AI安全科学研讨、W27申请开启及生态企业融资动态 2026年10月18日当周，Y Combinator发布了最新周报，核心内容包括斯坦福学者解析AI安全科学与形式化验证、YC W27批次招募正式开放、思科总裁谈AI基础设施布局，以及涵盖机器人、生物医药和航空航天等领域的初创公司融资汇总。 YC Paper Club探讨AI安全研究：斯坦福大学教授指出航空防撞系统标准为每10亿飞行小时一次灾难性故障，讨论了形式化验证以及设立AI领域类NTSB机构的必要性。 YC W27批次创业营申请已正式开放，截止日期为11月2日。 思科总裁兼首席产品官Jeetu Patel分享内部创业思维，其AI基础设施业务订单额在两年内从零增长至93亿美元。 多家YC生态企业完成新一轮融资，涵盖机器人即服务、mRNA生产、生物农药、自动化制药及自主飞艇等方向。 深度对话与项目招募 本期YC Paper Club聚焦AI安全科学，邀请斯坦福AI安全中心联席主任Clark Barrett与Mykel Kochenderfer探讨OpenAI与Hugging Face事件、代码特性的数学化形式验证方法，并探讨AI行业是否需要类似美国国家运输安全委员会（NTSB）的监管调查机构。同时，YC宣布正式开启W27批次申请，截止时间为11月2日。此外，思科总裁兼CPO Jeetu Patel在访谈中分享了思科在网络、安全、芯片与AI基建领域的布局，其AI基础设施业务在两年内实现了93亿美元的订单规模。 初创企业融资快讯 在社区动态方面，多家YC旗下初创公司公布融资进展：机器人即服务公司Ultra筹集6200万美元；mRNA疗法生产平台Sensible Bio完成4700万美元融资；生物农药公司Molagri融资580万美元用于开发可更新生物农药；自动化药物制造机器人创企完成7500万美元融资；法国自主飞艇研发公司HyLight融资1300万欧元；医院排班与人力调度AI系统Vitalize完成3100万美元融资。

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | This Week at YC **October 18th, 2026** | | | | ✨ **The Latest** | | | | | | | | [AI Safety Fact vs. Fiction \| YC Paper Club](https://youtu.be/X7oI4Umt3DU) This week’s Paper Club is all about AI safety - not the headlines, the science. AI safety has been a research field for decades, with its own conferences, methods, and a track record in systems like aircraft collision avoidance, where the standard is one catastrophic failure per billion flight hours. We'll hear from Clark Barrett and Mykel Kochenderfer, Stanford professors and co-directors of the Stanford Center for AI Safety, as they break down the OpenAI–Hugging Face incident, how formal verification can mathematically prove properties of code, and why AI may need its own NTSB. | | | | | | | | [Applications for YC W27 are now open!](https://mailchi.mp/ycombinator.com/apply) Every company that changes the world starts with someone deciding to build. If you're making something people want, we'd love to hear from you. Apply by November 2nd: [ycombinator.com/apply](http://ycombinator.com/apply) | | | | | | | | [How Jeetu Patel Runs Cisco Like the World’s Largest Startup](https://youtu.be/ofxAtQhV-xA) Cisco is positioning itself as the picks-and-shovels company for the AI era, spanning networking, security, silicon, and infrastructure. Its AI infrastructure business went from zero to $9.3B in orders in just two years. President & CPO Jeetu Patel joined us to talk about bringing a founder mindset to the company, and what the massive data center buildout looks like from the inside. He also shares the unlikely path that took him from waiting tables at Sizzler to leading product at Cisco, and the lessons he’s learned about ambition, compounding, and making the most of the opportunities in front of you. | | | | | | 🌎 YC Community Highlights/news from YC and YC companies | | | | | | | | [**Ultra raises $62M for fast-growing ‘robots as a service’ business**](https://fortune.com/2026/10/09/ultra-raises-62-million-fast-growing-robots-service-tie-up-ai-research-firm-physical-intelligence/) Fortune | | | | | | | | [**Sensible Bio gets $47M for mRNA therapy manufacturing platform**](https://endpoints.news/sensible-bio-secures-47m-series-a-for-mrna-therapy-manufacturing-platform/) Endpoints | | | | | | | | [**Molagri raises $5.8m to build ‘updatable’ biopesticides**](https://agfundernews.com/molagri-raises-5-8m-to-build-updatable-biopesticides) AFN | | | | | | | | [**This robotics startup raised $75 million to automate drug manufacturing**](https://www.businessinsider.com/see-the-pitch-deck-drug-manufacturing-startup-used-raise-75m-2026-10) Business Insider | | | | | | | | [**French startup HyLight raises €13 million to build autonomous airships**](https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/french-startup-hylight-raises-e13-million-to-build-autonomous-airships) AeroTime | | | | | | | | [**Vitalize secures $31M to scale AI-powered operating system for hospital staffing and scheduling**](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/vitalize-secures-31m-scale-ai-powered-operating-system-hospital-staffing-and-scheduling) Fierce Healthcare | | | | | | [🚀 **The Launchpad**](http://ycombinator.com/launches) [Some of the most recent launches from YC companies](http://ycombinator.com/launches) | | | | | | | | [Find more YC companies and discover new products](https://www.ycombinator.com/launches) | | | | | | [🔥 **Hacker News**](https://news.ycombinator.com) [Top posts from this week](https://news.ycombinator.com) | | | | | | | | [Read more on Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com) | | | | | | **More YC resources:** [Apply to YC](https://www.ycombinator.com/apply) \| [YC Library](https://www.ycombinator.com/library) | | | | *Copyright © 2026 Y Combinator, All rights reserved.* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences](https://ycombinator.us7.list-manage.com/profile?u=6507bf4e4c2df3fdbae6ef738&id=547725049b&e=[UNIQID]&c=f1805a06eb) or [unsubscribe from this list](https://ycombinator.us7.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=6507bf4e4c2df3fdbae6ef738&id=547725049b&t=b&e=[UNIQID]&c=f1805a06eb). |