February 8, 2026
Sleep is the new perk?
In the AI gold rush, tech firms are embracing 72-hour weeks
Perks, pep talks, and 72-hour weeks—workers clap back
TLDR: AI startups are normalizing 72-hour workweeks with perks and “Olympian” hype, while commenters roast the grind as unpaid overtime and burnout. The big debate: is this trend spreading or just an AI bubble—and wasn’t AI supposed to make work shorter, not longer?
Rilla, a New York AI company, is recruiting with glossy perks and “insane speed,” but the real headline is the fine print: ~70 hours a week in person. Cue the comment section going full wildfire. One user scoffed, “no overtime pay, just ‘perks’,” while another quipped, “The only thing produced in hour 71 is poor judgment.” The vibe? A mix of burnout memes and labor-law side-eye.
Rilla’s exec talks about hiring “Olympian athletes” and sprinting till 2–3am, reflecting the 996 culture (9am–9pm, six days a week) popularized in China—where even factory-sized tech names like Jack Ma once called it a “blessing,” before a backlash and crackdown. Some commenters want a hard pivot to worker protections and healthy lives, while others ask if this grind is really growing or just concentrated in AI’s most intense corners. And the irony meme of the day: Wasn’t AI supposed to help us work less?
It’s hustle vs. health, with a side of corporate vibes like Baidu’s “I’m not your mother” PR moment. The community split is sharp: devotees frame it as a high-achiever sport; skeptics see it as glittery pizza masking unpaid overtime. Read the job ad, then read the comments—the drama’s in the replies. For more on 996, see this explainer.
Key Points
- •Rilla, a New York-based AI firm, recruits with an explicit expectation of ~70-hour in-person workweeks and offers extensive perks.
- •Rilla’s head of growth, Will Gao, says the company seeks highly ambitious employees and frames long hours as flexible rather than fixed.
- •The push for long hours is linked to rapid AI development and competitive pressure to commercialize technologies quickly.
- •The 996 culture (9am–9pm, six days a week) gained prominence in China with support from leaders like Jack Ma and Richard Liu.
- •Backlash in China over labor law concerns led to a 2021 legal crackdown; advocacy has since quieted, with exceptions like Baidu’s ex-PR head Qu Jing’s 2024 defense.