An xAI techie has sparked a massive debate over workplace culture after revealing he worked for 19 hours straight. Taking to social media, he shared that this was his longest shift at Elon Musk’s AI firm so far, adding that he had “never felt more alive”. While the post was intended to showcase his dedication, it quickly drew criticism from social media users who questioned the health implications of such extreme hours. Many users were quick to provide a reality check, pointing out that working nearly 20 hours “is not a flex.”
“It’s 5:30 am. Just closed my laptop after 19 hours of work today—my longest at xAI so far,” wrote Giri Kuncoro. He added, “I’ve never felt more alive.”
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Though short, the tweet has reached many people, accumulating almost 90k views at the time of writing this report.
How did social media react?
People had mixed reactions to the techie’s post. While some expressed admiration for Kuncoro, many warned him about burnout.
An individual shared, “Your work is taking us to the promised land, Giri.” Another posted, “It is not a flex.”
A third commented, “Are you hoping Elon will see this post and appreciate it? A fourth wrote, “Until you burn out and require years of your life to rebuild your mental capacity and immune system.”
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Elon Musk’s approach towards long working hours
Elon Musk is well-known for his “extremely hardcore” approach to work. He once said that “nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week”. The tech leader has often publicly revealed that he sleeps in his office at times to work.
He consistently advocates for a baseline of 80 to 100 hours per week to achieve extraordinary results.
Who is Giri Kuncoro?
According to his personal website, Giri Kuncoro is an engineer who is working on xAI. He focuses on cloud native infrastructure for AI workloads and LLM serving.
Talking about his previous works, Kuncoro wrote, “Previously at TikTok, Gojek, and VMware. I’m also a former CNCF ambassador, I founded the Kubernetes community in Indonesia and led the SIG Docs localization group.”
He also stated, “I’ve lived and worked in Tokyo, Palo Alto, Jakarta, Bangalore, and Sydney — now in London. I enjoy sharing insights from my work at conferences.”