The founder and former founder of Google believes that his former employees need to work 60 hours a week to achieve Google’s goals: A general-purpose AI, which many companies are already working on.
Who is he talking about? Sergey Brin co-founded the company Google with Larry Page, but both have since stepped back from the company. Nonetheless, Brin still has influence over the company he founded with Page.
Sergey Brin stated in a memo, which is available to the English-speaking New York Times (behind paywall), that Google employees should work 60 hours a week in order to achieve Google’s goal of a leading position in AI.
60 hours a week as the “sweet spot of productivity”
This is what Brin writes: In the memo available to the NYT, the Google founder explains: “I recommend being in the office at least every weekday.” He added that “60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity” in the message to employees working on Gemini, Google’s AI.
The competition has accelerated enormously, and the last race for AGI is in full swing. I believe we have all the prerequisites to win this race, but we must intensify our efforts further.
What does he mean by AGI? The acronym AGI stands for Artificial General Intelligence
, meaning a general artificial intelligence and is the goal of several companies. Developers are trying to create software with human-like intelligence and the ability for self-study and self-reflection.
They want to move away from the current generative AI and ultimately create a general-purpose AI. An AGI would understand concepts and think more like a human, which some believe makes it a conscious being. This makes such an AI particularly exciting, but possibly also dangerous.
Despite the 60-hour demand: No changes planned at Google
Brin and Page handed over the reins to the current CEO Sundar Pichai in 2015, so his statement does not necessarily mean a change in current company policy regarding working in the office. Google is still operating under a hybrid model, where employees must be in the office three days a week. However, as a founder, Brin’s voice carries weight within the company.
The English magazine Ars Technica inquired with Google whether the company intends to reassess its work policies, but a Google representative stated that no changes to the return to office are planned.
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