Tech startups chasing a productivity edge are handing out free nicotine pouches to employees — stocking office fridges and vending machines with flavored stimulants that workers say sharpen focus, even as doctors warn the habit risks hooking a new generation on the addictive drug.
Once marketed as a way to help smokers quit, the small, gum-sized pouches have been popping up in Silicon Valley offices as an unofficial perk, embraced by a subset of mostly male tech workers who argue nicotine helps them power through long hours in an increasingly cutthroat, AI-fueled workplace.
At Palantir Technologies, nicotine startups Lucy and Sesh have installed branded vending machines inside the company’s Washington, DC, offices, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Palantir, the data analytics and software firm that primarily does business with government agencies and security organizations, offers free pouches to employees and guests over 21 — a move the company says pays for itself as a workplace boost.
The trend extends beyond Big Tech, reaching smaller startups such as Austin, Tex.-based Hello Patient, where founder Alex Cohen added a nicotine-pouch fridge after noticing tins of Zyn on engineers’ desks and linking their use to intense focus during long coding sessions.
“They were very productive, so I thought maybe there’s something here,” he told The Journal.
Cohen said that the idea started as a joke after he posted a photo of a drawer packed with pouches online, but quickly turned serious as employees asked him to keep them stocked and he found himself using two to three a day for what he described as a quick productivity boost.
He said he initially bought the products for social media buzz, but later acknowledged becoming addicted himself, describing nicotine as a stimulant that helps focus his attention and sustain concentration during the workday.
Medical experts told The Journal that the trend carries real risks, warning that nicotine is highly addictive and can raise blood pressure, increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and potentially draw non-smokers into long-term dependence.
Using can be left with withdrawal symptoms including anhedonia, or the inability to feel pleasure, according to doctors.
“Individuals will often switch nicotine products,” said Dr. Michael Fiore, co-founder of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, warning that many tech workers are likely nonusers and that pouches “could be causing addiction in a population that’s not currently using it.”
Other doctors echoed that concern, stressing that whatever short-term focus users claim, nicotine’s addictive properties and physiological effects remain unavoidable.
“Make no mistake about it, nicotine is highly addictive,” said Peter Attia, a physician and longevity influencer.”
He pointed to studies suggesting nicotine can increase tumor growth and lower sperm count.
The Food and Drug Administration has said even though it’s allowed pouches to be marketed, that does not mean they are safe.
Still, the pouches are gaining traction inside tech as competition intensifies, with workers increasingly turning to stimulants and so-called “bio-hacking” techniques in an effort to stay sharp as artificial-intelligence development accelerates and expectations climb.
“There’s no conclusive evidence that low doses of pure nicotine salt are harmful long-term,” Cohen told The Post via email on Wednesday.
“I’m a bit of a health nerd and track all my biomarkers monthly, as well as my blood pressure and sleep data,” he added.
“So far, none of it has been impacted by pouch use.”
Culturally, the trend dovetails with Silicon Valley’s long-running obsession with “bio-hacking” and nootropics, drugs believed to make one smarter or more creative. Supplements, wearables and unconventional stimulants are routinely embraced in the pursuit of longer hours and marginal performance gains.
That mindset has been reinforced by prominent figures in the longevity world, including Attia, who previously spoke about using nicotine gum to “sharpen his sword” before later cautioning that his remarks were not meant as an endorsement of nicotine use.
The Post has sought comment from Palantir, Lucy and Sesh.
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