Google co-founder Sergey Brin has called the 60-hour working week the "sweet spot of productivity" as he urged for more onsite days to help the tech giant meet its AI goals, according to reports.
Brin was quoted by The New York Times, which saw his message to employees working on Gemini, Google's lineup of AI models and apps.
"I recommend being in the office at least every weekday," the Google cofounder said in the memo, where he added that "60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity."
Brin did note that working more than 60 hours a week can lead to burnout, as he also called out employees who have been putting in the bare minimum.
"A number of folks work less than 60 hours and a small number put in the bare minimum to get by," he said as quoted by The New York Times. "This last group is not only unproductive but also can be highly demoralising to everyone else."
The Google cofounder made the remarks as he called for more efforts to win the race in artificial general intelligence (AGI), a theoretical type of AI that has human-like intelligence.
"Competition has accelerated immensely and the final race to A.G.I. is afoot," Brin said. "I think we have all the ingredients to win this race, but we are going to have to turbocharge our efforts."
Google's current office policy requires staff to be onsite at least three days.
John Casey, Google's vice president of global compensation and benefits, told staff late last year that the tech giant does not have immediate plans to order a full onsite return, Business Insider reported.
Casey's assurance came in the wake of Amazon's announcement last year that ordered all its employees to return onsite full-time in a bid to encourage collaboration among employees.
In Google's case, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said it was important that employees remained productive during work-from-home days to keep the company's policy flexible.
