In San Francisco's AI startup scene, workers are putting in 12-hour days, seven days a week. Sanju Lokuhitige, co-founder of Mythril, says, "Sometimes I’m coding the whole day. I do not have work-life balance." Some startups operate from cramped apartments where founders work until 3 a.m., taking only quick breaks. One employee called it "horrendous" and noted, "I’d heard about 996, but these guys don’t even do 996. They’re working 16-hour days." Tech culture has always been intense, but AI boom is adding fresh pressures. Despite record funding in AI for 2025, workers worry about job security. Kyle Finken from Mintlify says many ask, "Oh, am I going to have a job in three years?" Entry-level job postings dropped by a third since 2022, while mid-level roles increased. Lokuhitige adds, "No one hires junior developers any more," making startup grind a must for future hires. Big tech leaders, like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, predict AI will replace many junior and mid-level engineers. Layoffs hit 250,000 tech workers worldwide in 2025, often linked to AI, reports RationalFX. Mike Robbins, executive coach, says companies now demand more and care less about employee burnout. "We’ve stopped talking about all that," he says. Instead, companies focus on "change, disruption and uncertainty." Some, like Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, embrace the grind, boasting about staying up 19 hours to explore AI tools. But many feel uneasy about an AI future that might sideline human workers. Economists see AI as reshaping or removing many early-career jobs. Stanford research warns of "substantial declines in employment for early-career workers." The IMF predicts up to 60% of jobs in advanced economies will change due to AI. San Francisco’s tech grind may be a crystal ball for the broader workforce. Robbins points out that Silicon Valley’s once-envied perks and culture are fading. "Now, people aren’t asking me to tell them what’s going on in the Valley so that they can adopt it, the same way they were a decade ago." The intense pressure and job fears in Silicon Valley could soon ripple across many industries, signaling a tough road ahead for workers everywhere.