AI Startups Push 72 Hour Workweek – Techish Podcast

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This week, Techish host Michael Berhane teams up with TechCrunch reporter Dominic-Madori Davis to break down why Silicon Valley is leaning into the intense 996 work culture. They also dive into  Black beauty brands like Ami Colé struggling to stay afloat. Flo’s privacy trial, and Mira Murati’s $2 billion seed round. And for the Patreon subscribers: why the Tea app is in hot water and the dark side of tech’s H-1B visas.

Chapters

00:43 Silicon Valley Embraces Controversial 996 Workweek
07:11 Black-Owned Beauty Brand Ami Colé Shuts Down
13:33 Period-Tracking App Flo’s Data Privacy Lawsuit
17:46 Former OpenAI CTO Raises $2 Billion With No Product
23:08 The Tea App Is In Hot Water [Patreon-Only]
31:25 Are Tech Companies Exploiting H-1B Visa Holders? [Patreon-Only]

Follow Dom on Instagram (@dominicmadori) and subscribe to her Substack, The Black Cat.

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Extra Reading & Resources

• Silicon Valley AI Startups Are Embracing China’s Controversial ‘996’ Work Schedule [Wired] 
• Why I Am Closing Ami Colé My beauty brand offered Black women shades they couldn’t find elsewhere. Why wasn’t that enough? [The Cut] 
• Sephora or Against? [Puck, $]
• As class action trial looms, Meta and Flo could face ‘mind-boggling’ damages [Reuters]
• Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab valued at $10bn after $2bn fundraising [FT]