There was a time when Silicon Valley served a dream on a platter, not just of a technology to revolutionise the world, but of lives built on flexibility, creativity, and a certain renegade freedom. Today, in the fluorescent-lit offices of AI startups from Palo Alto to SoMa, the dream is morphed and has become a subject of mockery. 12 hour shifts and six days a week are becoming the new norm of the American job market.The 21st century opened with the narratives of work-life balance, with beanbags, open offices, and kombucha on tap, it appears the next chapter may be authored in the image of a far more punishing model: China’s 996 work culture, 9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week. Once vilified and outlawed in the country of origin, 996 is now knocking on America’s doors, looking for a new traction in the heart of its tech frontier.The question isn’t whether this trend exists. It does. The question is: What does its rise say about the future of ambition in America? Will Silicon Valley keep championing the employees who trade their sleep and sanity for the sake of so-called progress?
A peek into the new reality
At Rilla, a San Francisco-based AI startup, there’s no pretence. The job listing doesn’t mince words: “Do not apply unless you’re excited about working approximately 70 hours a week.” It’s not just a warning, it’s a filter. Meals are provided, Saturdays included. The message is etched in black and white: This is the place where work should be your optimum priority, and is for the ones who breathe hustle. And this story does not end with a single company, but is slowly redefining the very fabric of American work culture, where work is no longer a part of life, but a life itself.
996 isn’t creeping , it’s charging in
What was once the whispered domain of overworked founders is now becoming institutionalised. Google co-founder Sergey Brin recently described 60-hour weeks as the “sweet spot” for his Gemini AI team. Elon Musk offered a more ruthless ultimatum at X: commit to “extremely hardcore” work hours or take severance and go.Other startups are less subtle. San Francisco-based Fella & Delilah recently introduced a two-tier system, a 25% salary bump and double the equity for those opting into 996. Just under 10% of staff signed on.Meanwhile, recruiters are adjusting to the new expectations. Adrian Kinnersley, a long-time tech headhunter, reports a surge in companies asking for 996 commitments upfront. He’s already registered the domain 996careers.com, not as a gimmick, but in anticipation of a job market that no longer hides its demands behind euphemisms like “fast-paced” or “growth-minded.”
Why now? Why again?
The answer to why there is a resurgence of extreme work culture, one has to look beyond office walls, to the geopolitical battle being waged in code and silicon. China’s DeepSeek AI recently stunned Western researchers with models rivalling, even threatening, the dominance of OpenAI and Google DeepMind. Silicon Valley, long accustomed to leading from the front, suddenly feels the heat at its back. The reflex is primal: work harder. Work longer. Outbuild.Enter the 996 revival. It’s no longer just about building great products; it’s about defending America’s place in a global AI arms race.British venture capitalist Harry Stebbings, never known for understatement, suggested that even 996 might now be passé. “China’s on 007,” he quipped. “Midnight to midnight, seven days a week.” For Stebbings, working five days a week builds $100 million companies. Seven days? That’s the $10 billion game.It’s a mindset that both inspires and alarms, depending on where you stand.
The fine print: Dreams vs. labour law
The glorification of relentless toil does not come without repercussions. Labour law experts forewarn that numerous companies are operating far outside compliance, especially in California, which boasts some of the strictest protections for overtime, rest, and worker safety.But the law, as always, lags behind the culture. And culture is shifting fast.The truth is, there is less appetite, at least in the Valley, to run the ethos. Investors don’t reward moderation. Founders don’t get applause for leaving early. And in a climate where Gen Z founders equate sleep with mediocrity, the gravitational pull of extreme work is hard to resist.
A warning from the East
It’s worth remembering: China tried this. It scaled the heights of innovation on the backs of millions of overworked engineers, only to be forced into a reckoning. Burnout, protests, suicides, and eventually, government intervention.In 2021, China made 996 illegal. The social cost had become too high. And now, in a twist almost too ironic to script, the United States is embracing the very culture China deemed untenable.
The bigger question: What are we building , and at what cost?
Work, at its best, is a vehicle for meaning, progress, and transformation. But when the engine is pushed too hard, too often, even the best machines break down.There is a huge fascination and allure to the narrative that genius only emerges through grind. Silicon Valley has long mythologised its titans, the Jobses, the Musks, the Zuckerbergs, as monks of obsession. But it is one thing to admire their intensity. It is another thing to institutionalise it.What happens when a whole generation mistakes exhaustion for excellence? When working through weekends isn’t the exception but the expectation?The race for AI dominance is real. But the deeper race, the one that will shape our culture, our health, our future, is how we define the value of a human hour.If America is to lead the world in innovation, it must ask itself: Is it enough to work harder than China, or must we work smarter too?
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