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AkhenOsiris
God bless this 996 movement...please keep working so I don't have to 😂

Remote Work Is Over… ‘996 Work Culture’ Spreads Across U.S. Startups

“If you don’t want to work 70 hours a week, don’t apply to our company.”

Last month, AI startup Rilla posted this condition in a job advertisement for AI engineers on its website. In the U.S., the standard workweek requiring overtime pay is 40 hours. Rilla’s demand nearly doubles that.

San Francisco–based startup Weekday AI also wrote in its software engineer job posting: “If you don’t want to work six days a week (only Sunday off), you’re not a fit for this role. We’re looking for applicants who enjoy solving difficult problems with patience.” And they’re not alone. On LinkedIn and job sites, postings that require six-day schedules or 70+ hour workweeks at U.S. startups are increasingly easy to find.

Recently, U.S. startups have begun adopting the so-called “996” high-intensity work culture: working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, a model popularized in China. Once known for perks like flexible hours, remote work options, unlimited paid leave, and free-spirited office environments meant to boost creativity, American startups are now moving in the opposite direction.

◇ No Drinking, No Sleep, No Leisure

“We are adopting the 996 schedule.” Earlier this year, Mercor CEO Brendan Puddy declared on X (formerly Twitter) that his AI startup would embrace 996. With AI competition intensifying, many startups believe “now is the make-or-break moment”, and are embracing extreme work intensity. The backdrop is a sense of urgency: whoever wins today’s “AI war” will claim tomorrow’s rewards.

Local outlet San Francisco Standard reported: “Many who see the AI boom as the greatest technological transformation of their lifetime are living every day in fierce competition to protect market share. They fear rivals across the street—or in China—will work harder and dominate the market.”

The Wall Street Journal also noted: “For AI startup founders, there is no drinking, no sleep, no leisure. Twenty-somethings flocking to San Francisco in pursuit of building the next trillion-dollar company are giving up everything except their laptops.”

Competition with China further fuels this culture. IT media outlet Wired wrote: “U.S. AI firms are borrowing not just the name but the exact working hours of 996 to survive against Chinese rivals.”

◇ Spreading Beyond Silicon Valley

This high-intensity culture isn’t limited to AI startups. Venture capital firm Index Ventures partner Martin Mignot posted on LinkedIn: “In Silicon Valley, China’s 996 system is becoming the new startup standard,” adding that this trend is spreading to New York and even Europe.

Biotech startup LatchBio, for example, recently advertised jobs saying: “We work six days a week (Monday through Saturday),” and pitched as a perk that employees receive “more than 12 meals a week” provided by the company.

There are concerns that this culture could spread into mainstream corporate America. Forbes wrote: “This high-intensity work culture is gradually spreading across U.S. workplaces in general,” adding that advances in AI are blurring boundaries between work and personal time, leading employers to expect tasks to be completed outside regular hours.

Forbes pointed to Wall Street banks, management consultancies, and major law firms as industries likely to adopt 70-hour workweeks as a new norm. In February, Google co-founder Sergey Brin also argued that “a 60-hour week is the optimal level for productivity.”

◇ China Moves in the Opposite Direction

Meanwhile, in China—where the 996 culture began—work intensity is easing. Rising health problems linked to overwork prompted China’s Supreme People’s Court to declare 996 illegal in 2021.

At the National People’s Congress this March, Beijing pledged “comprehensive measures to eliminate hamster-wheel-like excessive competition.” State-run Global Times reported that some Chinese companies are[...]

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