Google Cofounder Exhorts Employees to Work 60-Hour Weeks to Create AI Designed to Replace Them

Over the past few years, the tech industry has gone from cushy landing pad for STEM grads to a cesspit of corporate greed, where grueling hours are commonplace, and layoffs could strike at any moment. Unfortunately for employees of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, the squeeze is just getting started. In an internal memo sent out Wednesday and obtained by the New York Times, Google cofounder Sergey Brin — who's been mostly absent from the company since 2019, except when issuing edicts about the importance of AI — made it clear he wants his peons to focus even harder on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), the long-promised "next step" in AI intelligence. "I recommend being in the office at least every weekday," Brin wrote, implying that good employees should also spend a few weekends in the office. "60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity," Brin added, stating that a "number of folks work less than 60 hours and a small number put in the bare minimum to ... Read full article.