A hot potato: Sergey Brin, the billionaire who co-founded Google alongside Larry Page in 1998, isn't the biggest believer in the idea of a work-life balance. He says that in order for Google to come out on top in the ultra-competitive AI industry, employees should work no fewer than 60 hours per week, which Brin calls the "sweet spot of productivity." Brin called for Googlers working on the company's AI products to increase their hours in a memo seen by The New York Times.Sixty hours per week works out at 12 hours per day in the traditional Monday to Friday work week.Not surprisingly, Brin isn't a fan of working from home. Google is one of many companies that require workers to be in the office at least three days per week. However, Brin recommends being in the office "at least every weekday" so at least he's okay with working from home on weekends."A number of folks work less than 60 hours and a small number put in the bare minimum to get by," Brin wrote. "This last group is not only unproductive but also can be highly demoralizing to everyone else."Brin did say that working more than 60 hours per week isn't advisable as it can lead to exhaustion (and possibly other health issues), though it's easy to imagine most people arguing that 60 hours per week would cause the same problem. // Related StoriesBrin is cracking the whip in a push for Google to win the race in developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), which can understand and think like a real person while exceeding human cognitive capabilities."Competition has accelerated immensely, and the final race to AGI is afoot," Brin wrote in the memo. "I think we have all the ingredients to win this race, but we are going to have to turbocharge our efforts."Brin believes the key to Google developing AGI first in addition to 60-hour-weeks and not working from home is for programmers to increase their efficiency by using the company's own Gemini AI tools.Brin stepped down as Alphabet president in 2019, though he returned to take a role in Google's AI developments in 2023. It's unlikely that his memo is going to lead to CEO Sundar Pichai changing the work-from-home policy or increasing AI employees' minimum number of hours, but Brin still has influence at the company he co-founded.Brin isn't the only person in tech who thinks 40 to 50 hours in the office each week isn't enough. Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has called for 70-hour work weeks and said he does not "believe in work-life balance."Masthead: Thomas Hawk