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

Waymo LLC; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 96,000 - 117,000; Part time

Job summary

Waymo LLC in Mountain View, California, seeks a graduate intern for the Waymo AI Foundations team to advance autonomous driving research. You will research, implement, and evaluate zero-shot object detection models and collaborate with researchers and engineers to improve foundation models.

Ideal candidates are pursuing a Masters or PhD in CS/Robotics/ML/EE with strong publication records and hands-on DL experience.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Masters or Ph.D. in Computer Science, robotics, ML, or Electrical Engineering.
• 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 PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow.
• Deep understanding of modern neural network architectures and learning paradigms.

Responsibilities

• 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 communicate findings via technical reports/publications

Skills

Python

Deep learning

Neural networks

Autonomous driving

Open-source models

Education

Masters or PhD in CS/Robotics/ML/EE

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

TensorFlow

Job description

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.

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 USD

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 PhD Pay $85-$85 USD