Magnus Muller, the 24-year-old CEO of the AI startup Browser Use, works seven days a week from the time he rises (reportedly around 7 a.m.) to when he goes to bed — usually around 1 a.m.
Kinjal Nandy, CEO of AI startup Sonatic, recently posted a job that asks the prospective employee to work seven days a week, while AI startup Cognition’s CEO Scott Wu told the Washington Post about an “extreme performance culture” that includes working nights and weekends. (1)
In job listings and X postings, “996” is the PIN number for businesses seeking hyper-dedicated employees.
So why are these California-based CEOs working so hard? In part, it’s a throwback to the “grind culture” of the late 1990s and early 2000s during the first dot-com boom, when long hours and “sleeping under your desk” were seen as proof of startup devotion.
The other reason, as Caroline Winnett, the executive director of Berkeley SkyDeck, UC Berkeley’s tech accelerator program told the Washington Post (2), is that the companies building AI now will capture the market, and the window of opportunity is only two or three years.
This reasoning motivates young founders to race as hard as they can to build their businesses — and they are in a dead heat with their Chinese competitors.
In the last 10 years, Elon Musk and his companies have become paragons of grind culture, with Musk openly arguing 80- to 100-hour workweeks are essential to success.
The term 996 first gained traction in the U.S. after Alibaba founder Jack Ma said (3) in a 2019 interview that young people should see working 12 hours a day, six days a week as a “blessing” — comments that he had to walk back after online backlash.
Many of the founders who espouse the 996 ethos are in their 20s, when they don’t have other obligations to get in the way of their quest to be first-to-market with world-disrupting technology.
To the elite few who live in San Francisco and work for an AI startup, a 72-hour work week may sound like the only path to a future of untold riches.
But for most workers, including older workers and younger workers who aren’t all about the money, 996 sounds like a prison rather than a key to success.
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In China, the backlash to 996 has been loud and public. In 2019, developers launched the “996.ICU” GitHub campaign to shame firms that normalized 72-hour weeks and helped to turn overwork into a national debate.
In 2021, China’s Supreme People’s Court and the labor ministry issued guidance and model cases declaring 996 illegal, and state media amplified criticism of bosses who praised it. (4)
As Gen Z matures into the job market, some have developed an alternative ethos to 996. The “lying flat” movement (known as “tang ping” in Mandarin) won hearts and minds of younger workers in China by urging people to reject non-stop striving in favor of a simpler life that promotes personal well-being.
In May 2024, the head of PR for Baidu, China’s largest search engine, got significant blowback from younger Chinese tech workers for posting videos with themes like, “If you work in public relations, don’t expect weekends off,” and “I only care about results.” (5)
In the U.S., the closest analogue to China’s “lying flat” is “quiet quitting,” a widespread pullback from going above and beyond that Gallup estimates (6) includes about half of workers. Gen Z’s response to return-to-office mandates is mixed.
According to the Pew Research Center (7), many younger workers prefer hybrid flexibility and say they would consider leaving if remote options were removed, though research also shows young workers are often the most eager cohort to be in the office several days a week for learning and social connection.
The AI startups who are advertising for workers who are willing to put in long hours for low pay in the hopes of striking it rich in stock options later understand the rules of the game.
According to Cognition CEO Scott Wu, “cognition has an extreme performance culture, and we’re upfront about this in hiring so there are no surprises later.” A Mercor listing that says candidates should have a “willingness to work six days a week, and it’s not negotiable.”
For these employees, compensation is often tilted heavily toward equity in the company in a “work now, get paid later” arrangement. Most hires who accept this deal understand that they may grind themselves to dust for no compensation if the startup fails or fails to find a buyer.
On the other hand, they see the example of early employees at Netscape, PayPal, Facebook and Amazon becoming centi-millionaires from stock options and decide it’s worth the risk.
However, this financial gamble may also come at the cost of one’s health. A joint analysis (8) by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization estimated that working 55 hours or more per week contributed to about 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, identifying long hours as the largest occupational risk factor in their burden-of-disease model.
Evidence on productivity also undercuts the business case for extreme schedules. A 2018 book by Stanford economist John Pencavel demonstrates hours and output show diminishing returns as weekly hours climb, and historical evidence suggests output per hour can fall steeply beyond the 50 to 60 hour range.
So while 996 culture may be the Gen Z version of “rise and grind,” whether it will help American AI firms catch up with China is debatable at best.
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Washington Post (1), (2); CNBC (3); Reuters (4); The Guardian (5); Gallup (6); Pew Research Center (7); World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) (8).
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
