An engineer at Elon Musk’s xAI has ignited the age-old debate on long work hours in tech firms, flaunting a 19-hour workday and claiming it made him feel ‘more alive’ than ever. The post, as expected, has drawn sharp criticism from the internet, where people now argue whether extreme work hours are unhealthy and not something one should celebrate.
Giri Kuncoro, who is a software engineer at xAI focusing on cloud native infrastructure for AI workloads, posted on X late after completing a long day at the office.
“It’s 5:30 am. Just closed my laptop after 19 hours of work today, my longest at xAI so far. I’ve never felt more alive,” he wrote.
The message, as expected, went viral. This comes especially as xAI and Elon Musk are known to promote long work hours for getting work done at the software company. In fact, in previous statements, he has described working seven days a week, sleeping in factories or offices. He had even claimed in older interviews that extreme schedules (like 22-hour days) were part of his routine at Tesla and SpaceX.
Simultaneously, he also used to warn that “no one should put this many hours into work,” calling it unsustainable.
Internet reacts to 19-hour workday post
As usual, responses on social media were divided. Some users praised Kuncoro’s dedication, with comments like “You’re doing work that will save civilisation” and calling xAI team members “real life superheroes.” Supporters of xAI argued that building groundbreaking AI technology sometimes demands extraordinary effort and passion.
Then there are those who have pushed back strongly on the concept of overworking. Critics called the post out for promoting unhealthy hustle culture, with replies such as, “This is not a flex, 8 hours of sleep and working out daily will make you more productive than this slop.” Another user wrote, “Until you burn out and require years of your life to rebuild your mental capacity and immune system.” Several pointed out that long hours often lead to lower long-term productivity, burnout, and health issues.
xAI pushing hard in the AI race
In recent months, Elon Musk’s xAI has seen major developments amid its push to advance AI. One of the major developments in the recent times is the integration of xAI and SpaceX, thereby helping with streamlined operations. This comes right on the heels of Tesla announcing discontinuation of its high-end Model S and Model X vehicles in favour of making space for production of the Tesla robot. xAI is going for new product focuses like Grok Voice, Grok Code, Grok Imagine, and automation projects.
On the Grok side, the company rolled out Grok 4.20 beta in early March 2026 (following Grok 4.2 updates), touting it as the “only non-woke” AI with unfiltered, truth-seeking responses that avoid equivocation on controversial topics, which drew both praise and scrutiny. Additional features include Grok-powered audio summaries for long-form articles on X, upgraded video and image generation tools, and enterprise expansions like potential free tiers for businesses.