Google has urged its employees to work 60 hours a week.

Co-founder of Google Sergey Brin has urged company employees to spend more time in the office and work at least 60 hours a week to strengthen the competitive edge in artificial intelligence. This was reported by The New York Times.

In an internal message, Brin addressed the team working on the flagship AI models Gemini, emphasizing that Google has a strong chance of becoming a leader in the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI)—a system capable of matching or exceeding human intelligence. He noted that this is only possible with increased productivity.

“I recommend being in the office at least every weekday. 60 hours a week is the ideal productivity threshold,” Brin stated.

Although his message does not change Google's official office attendance policy (which currently requires presence three days a week), it reflects the growing pressure in the tech industry to return to in-person work.

Brin also encouraged engineers to more actively use their own AI models for coding to speed up AGI development. At the same time, he warned against overworking, acknowledging that excessive work can lead to burnout.

Brin's statement comes amid heightened competition between Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta in the field of artificial intelligence. Following the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, Google significantly ramped up its efforts, reorganized its AI divisions, and integrated Gemini into key company services. In February, Google unveiled the updated Gemini 2.0 model.

Earlier, it was reported that Google is reducing its workforce to cut costs for AI investments.