In a sign of the times, at least half of the 260 companies in the latest Y Combinator cohort are building their businesses around artificial intelligence. Canadian firms are well represented relative to other recent sessions, with at least eight firms pitching this week—nearly all of which are focused on AI. (The Logic, BetaKit) 

Talking point: “Many of today’s best founders are choosing to build in AI,” Garry Tan, CEO of YC wrote in a blog post at the start of Demo Day Wednesday, the Silicon Valley accelerator’s two-day event where founders pitch to investors. Though investors are funneling much of their money to AI these days, the challenge for YC startups is standing out from the competition. “That’s really the elephant in the room,” said Saroop Bharwani, CEO of Toronto-based AI-powered fintech firm Senso, a startup in the current YC batch. “If you invest in a company right now, there’s probably going to be five or six other ones that pop up that are doing similar stuff,” said Bharwani. That doesn’t seem to be a deterrent, said Bharwani, whose inbox has been flooded with emails from investors since pitching at YC on Wednesday. “Everybody is throwing money,” he said.