A post by an employee at Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has sparked a debate over Big Tech’s work culture. On November 28, Partha Tajik, a member of xAI’s technical staff, said she had been working non-stop for nearly 36 hours.
“I left the @xai office last night after working around 36 hours without sleep or sleep. I felt dead but feeling so much better. I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of this team. Happy Thanksgiving!,” he wrote to X.
The post quickly sparked a backlash online, with users claiming it was an unhealthy sign of a hustle culture and unsustainable work ethics.
xAI leader intervenes
In response to this viral discussion, Ayush Jaiswal from India, who works on xAI’s Grok team, sarcastically responded by supporting the initiative.
“Work-life balance is great. In fact, we recommend it to all our competitors,” Jaiswal posted, adding a follow-up line that appeared to be aimed at critics: “Please don’t get offended by this post. Feel free to disagree. Let us do the cooking.”
The comment drew mixed reactions, with many pointing to growing concerns about burnout in the tech industry.
familiar punch line
Jaiswal’s quip also echoes widely circulated statements by Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha. In 2024, Paricha joked that he fully supports work-life balance “especially for competition.” He later admitted on a podcast that in hindsight, the post was a “stupid idea.”
The exchange at xAI once again shines a spotlight on Silicon Valley’s cutthroat work culture and how proudly sharing extreme work hours continues to divide the internet.
