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

Digitailor; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 96,000 - 117,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous benefits

Job summary

Waymo LLC in Mountain View, CA, is seeking a Summer Intern (MS/PhD) for research in perception foundation models. You will research, implement, and evaluate zero-shot object detection models for autonomous driving, collaborating with research and engineering teams to advance Waymo's foundation models.

The role emphasizes cutting-edge research, potential publications, and a hybrid onsite internship. Strong publication records and hands-on DL experience preferred.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Master’s 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

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 and publications.

Skills

Publication record

Python programming

Deep learning concepts

Neural networks

Open-set perception (SAM)

Education

Master's degree in CS/ML/Robotics

PhD preferred

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

TensorFlow

Python

Job description

# 2027 Summer Intern, MS/PhD, Research, Perception Foundation ModelsWaymo LLC · Mountain View, CA, USA · posted on greenhouseThis posting does not mention sponsorship either way. Waymo LLC has 1,613 certified H-1B filings on record with the US Department of Labor. That is the employer’s history, not a statement about this job.Sign up to applyDigitailor tailors your resume to this posting and fills the employer’s form with you watching. That needs an account.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 DriverTM—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 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