It helps them recruit young/naive devs for their portfolio companies. That's it. But it also hurts YC. They are selling out the value of "we will look at your

It helps them recruit young/naive devs for their portfolio companies. That's it. But it also hurts YC. They are selling out the value of "we will look at your application regardless of your network" which will mean lots of founders without SV networks will self-select out of applying. It compounds the problem YC has with getting experienced people to apply. Also, everything I've heard about sama indicates he networks amazingly well. So, it probably makes sense for him to give advice that promotes other people to do the same as a way to success.