2027 Summer Intern, MS/PhD, Research, Perception Foundation Models

Waymo
Mountain View, CA
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for early-career researchers with advanced degrees who implement and evaluate foundation models in autonomous driving, working in a hybrid onsite arrangement in Mountain View, CA.

Best fit for

  • Early-career researchers with a strong publication record in AI/ML or robotics
    — “Strong publication record in top-tier AI/ML or robotics conferences”
  • Candidates with deep knowledge of neural networks and reinforcement learning
    — “AI Foundations areas that we are currently focusing on include reinforcement learning, learning from demonstration, generative modeling, Bayesian inference, hierarchical learning, and robust evaluation”
  • Individuals with hands-on experience in deep learning for autonomous driving or robotics
    — “Hands-on experience training and evaluating deep learning models for autonomous driving or robotics applications”

Things to consider

  • Hybrid onsite arrangement may require significant in-person presence in Mountain View, CA
    — “This will be a hybrid onsite internship position”
  • Applicants must apply individually for each of the top 3 roles they are interested in
    — “you will need to apply to each one individually - please apply to the top 3 roles you are interested in”

How to stand out

  • Emphasize experience with open-set perception models like SAM in your application
    — “Experience with open-set perception models (e.g. SAM)”
  • Highlight contributions to autonomous driving datasets and model evaluation
    — “Familiarity with autonomous driving datasets”
  • Showcase your ability to communicate research findings effectively
    — “potentially communicate research findings to the wider academic community via technical reports and/or publications”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • research and implementation of zero-shot object detection models
  • collaboration with research and engineering teams
  • communication of research findings to academic community
Typical background
Masters or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering

Skills & requirements

Required

Machine LearningDeep LearningReinforcement LearningGenerative ModelingBayesian InferencePythonPyTorchJAXTensorFlow

Preferred

Open-set Perception ModelsAutonomous Driving DatasetsOpen-source Foundation Models

Stack & domain

PythonPyTorchJAXTensorFlowReinforcement LearningLearning From DemonstrationGenerative ModelingBayesian InferenceHierarchical LearningRobust EvaluationLeadershipCommunicationAutonomous DrivingMachine LearningRobotics

About the role

Original posting from Waymo

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Since its start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has focused on building the Waymo Driver—The World's Most Experienced Driver™—to improve access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo’s fully autonomous ride-hail service and can also be applied to a range of vehicle platforms and product use cases. The Waymo Driver has provided over ten million rider-only trips, enabled by its experience autonomously driving over 100 million miles on public roads and tens of billions in simulation across 15+ U.S. states.

The mission of the Waymo AI Foundations team is to develop machine learning solutions addressing open problems in autonomous driving, towards the goal of safely operating Waymo vehicles in dozens of cities and under all driving conditions. As part of our work, we also initiate and foster collaborations with other research teams in Alphabet. AI Foundations areas that we are currently focusing on include reinforcement learning, learning from demonstration, generative modeling, Bayesian inference, hierarchical learning, and robust evaluation.

Waymo interns partner with leaders in the industry on projects that create impact to the company. We believe learning is a two-way street: applying your knowledge while providing you with opportunities to expand your skill-set. Interns are an important part of our culture and our recruiting pipeline. Join us at Waymo for a fun and rewarding internship!

You will:

Research, implement, and evaluate zero shot object detection models for autonomous driving

Collaborate with research and engineering teams to improve Waymo’s foundation models

Conduct cutting-edge research and potentially communicate research findings to the wider academic community via technical reports and/or publications

You have:

Currently pursuing a Masters or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, or a related field

Strong publication record in top-tier AI/ML or robotics conferences

Hands-on experience training and evaluating deep learning models for autonomous driving or robotics applications

Strong Python coding skills with expertise in modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow)

Deep understanding of modern neural network architectures and learning paradigms

We prefer:

Experience with open-set perception models (e.g. SAM)

Familiarity with autonomous driving datasets

Experience with open-source foundation models

Note: This will be a hybrid onsite internship position. We will accept resumes on a rolling basis until the role is filled. To be in consideration for multiple roles, you will need to apply to each one individually - please apply to the top 3 roles you are interested in.

The expected hourly rate for this full-time position is listed below. Interns are also eligible to participate in the Company’s generous benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements.Hourly Masters Pay$70—$70 USDThe expected hourly rate for this full-time position is listed below. Interns are also eligible to participate in the Company’s generous benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements.Hourly PhD Pay$85—$85 USD

Source: Waymo careers

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