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1 / 4Garry Tan says he spends up to $200,000 a year on AI tokens×

The bill

Y Combinator's chief executive told Walter Isaacson's podcast The Builders that he spends "maybe $100[,000] to $200,000 a year on tokens," adding: "It's too expensive right now."

What it reads

His agent reads his email, Dropbox, Apple Notes and 20 years of therapy notes.

YC's agent

YC runs an internal agent called Stray Light with context on every founder it has backed and every application it has received.

What it means

A heavy personal agent user now costs as much as a senior engineer, which is the number that decides how fast these spread.

Sources and the full story

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Garry Tan says he spends up to $200,000 a year on AI tokens

Y Combinator's chief executive told Walter Isaacson's podcast The Builders that he spends "maybe $100[,000] to $200,000 a year on tokens," adding: "It's too expensive right now." His agent reads his email, Dropbox, Apple Notes and 20 years of therapy notes. YC runs an internal agent called Stray Light with context on every founder it has backed and every application it has received. A heavy personal agent user now costs as much as a senior engineer, which is the number that decides how fast these spread. SourcesB

Sources

• BY Combinator's Garry Tan spends up to $200K a year on tokens (TechCrunch)techcrunch.com

This story ran in the Morning Brief of November 3rd 2026.