AI startups are reviving China’s ‘996’ culture. Why some say 72-hour workweeks are key to winning the race for dominance

So, why are these techCEOs working so hard? In part, it’s a throwback to the “grind culture” of the late 1990s and early 2000s during the dot-com boom, when long hours and “sleeping under your desk” were seen as proof of startup devotion.

The other reason, as Caroline Winnett, executive director of Berkeley SkyDeck, UC Berkeley’s tech accelerator program, told The Post, is that the companies building AI now will capture the market, and the window of opportunity may only be a few years.

“Because of generative AI, we all know that giant companies are going to be born,” she explained to the publication. So, why not try to be one of them?

This reasoning motivates young founders to race as hard as they can to build their businesses — much like their Chinese competitors who exemplify the so-called “996” work culture.

Where is this work trend coming from?

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 — which refers to working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week — gained traction in the U.S. after Alibaba founder Jack Ma said in 2019 that young people should see working 12 hours a day, six days a week as a “blessing” — comments that he walked back after online backlash, reports say. (4)

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 work for an AI startup in Silicon Valley, 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.

996 is not for everyone

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 hardcore work culture and helped to turn overwork into a national debate.

In 2021, news outlets report 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. (5)

An alternative ethos to 996 culture has also emerged. The “lying flat” movement (known as “tang ping” in China) won hearts and minds of workers by urging people to reject nonstop 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 Chinese workers for posting videos with themes like, “If you work in public relations, don’t expect weekends off,” and “I only care about results,” reports say. (6)