The AI wars are driving a more demanding work culture in Silicon Valley that some insiders worry is burning workers out.<\/p>\n
A “996<\/a>” work schedule, in which employees work six days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., has been well established in China and is taking hold in the San Francisco tech scene. While Silicon Valley has long been known for an intense work culture, some companies have recently adopted the more rigid\u00a0996 work schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nathan Lambert, a senior research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI, and Sebastian Raschka, an AI research lab founder, joined podcaster Lex Fridman in a recent episode<\/a> about artificial intelligence. When asked about 996 culture in Silicon Valley<\/a>, Raschka said what he’s seen is not exactly the same as in China, but it’s trending that way.<\/p>\n The current landscape of the tech industry consists of AI models leapfrogging each other<\/a> to try to stay ahead of their competitors. For startups, the pressure to make it big can lead to grueling work schedules for employees.<\/p>\n “It’s really hard because you have to deliver constantly,” Raschka said. <\/p>\n Raschka said both passion and competition are driving the grind mindset in Silicon Valley. He got a taste of this work culture while working as an academic in AI. He said he wasn’t forced to overwork; he chose to.<\/p>\n Lambert said this mindset is showing up in some of the most recognizable companies<\/a> in San Francisco and the AI industry.<\/p>\n “That’s what OpenAI and Anthropic are like,” he said, saying that employees commit to the high-pressure culture because they want to do the work, particularly the programmers.<\/p>\n