A top Chinese AI developer punished scores of staff who took a longer lunch break than allowed, reviving memories of the relentless work culture that plagued the country’s tech sector years ago. From a report: IFlytek this week fired off a companywide memo upbraiding more than a hundred employees it accused of abandoning their workstations to line up for free chicken lunches at the campus cafeteria.

As a disciplinary measure, those who took more than the allotted hour will get a “C” review rating, according to a copy of the memo that was posted online and verified by a company representative. The post drew more than 66 million views on Chinese social media platform Weibo and highlighted the immense pressures on the country’s AI sector, now the hottest slice of a tech arena still struggling to regain its footing since Beijing cracked down on the industry in late 2020.