World Model Research Scientist- Physical AI

Kodiak; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity and annual bonuses

Medical, Dental, Vision plans

Flexible PTO and paid holidays

Dog-friendly office in Mountain View

Free lunch and kitchen amenities

401(k) and commuter benefits

Job summary

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. in Mountain View, CA, is seeking a World Model Research Scientist to lead generative world models for autonomous driving.

You will design and train multi-sensor, multi-view models conditioned on actions, 3D scene context, and text, driving scalable closed-loop training and evaluation. The role requires a PhD in CS/AI/Robotics, strong publication record in diffusion/video synthesis, and proficiency with Python and PyTorch, with experience in distributed training and neural

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, AI, Robotics, or a related field with a focus on generative modeling, neural rendering, or video synthesis.
• Strong publication record or demonstrated contributions in diffusion models, video generation, neural radiance fields, or 3D-aware generative models.

Responsibilities

• Design and train generative world models that synthesize realistic multi-camera video and LiDAR conditioned on ego trajectories, 3D scene context, and text.
• Research and implement conditional diffusion architectures for driving, including spatiotemporal attention, latent space design, and action-conditioned generation.
• Develop techniques for multi-view geometric consistency in generated outputs using neural rendering, cross-view attention, and 3D-aware generative approaches.
• Build methods for joint multimodal generation that maintain cross-sensor consistency between camera, LiDAR, and radar outputs.
• Design evaluation frameworks that measure world model quality beyond pixel-level metrics, including scenario fidelity and autoregressive stability.
• Scale training pipelines to learn from thousands of hours of real-world driving data across multiple sensor modalities.

Skills

Generative models

Diffusion models

Neural rendering

Video synthesis

Multimodal sensing

Distributed training

Cognition of 3D scenes

Education

PhD in CS, AI, Robotics

Tools

PyTorch

Job description

World Model Research Scientist- Physical AI

Mountain View, CA

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Kodiak is building AI that doesn't just perceive the world, it learns how the physics of the world works. We are developing large-scale generative world models that learn to predict realistic, physically consistent futures from real-world sensor data. This capability serves as the foundation for scalable closed-loop training, validation, and long-tail scenario generation, and is distilled into the onboard models that drive our autonomous trucks. We are looking for a research scientist to lead the design and development of world models capable of generating multi-sensor, multi-view, temporally coherent driving scenarios conditioned on actions, 3D scene context, and text.

In this role, you will:

• Design and train generative world models that synthesize realistic multi-camera video and LiDAR conditioned on ego trajectories, 3D scene context, and text
• Research and implement conditional diffusion architectures for driving, including spatiotemporal attention, latent space design, and action-conditioned generation
• Develop techniques for multi-view geometric consistency in generated outputs, drawing on neural rendering, cross-view attention, and 3D-aware generative approaches
• Build methods for joint multimodal generation that maintain cross-sensor consistency between camera, LiDAR, and radar outputs
• Design evaluation frameworks that measure world model quality beyond pixel-level metrics, including scenario fidelity and autoregressive stability
• Scale training pipelines to learn from thousands of hours of real-world driving data across multiple sensor modalities

What you'll bring:

• PhD in Computer Science, AI, Robotics, or a related field, with a focus on generative modeling, neural rendering, or video synthesis
• Strong publication record or demonstrated research contributions in diffusion models, video generation, neural radiance fields, 3D-aware generative models, or world models
• Experience with neural rendering and view synthesis and an understanding of multi-view geometric consistency
• Proficiency working with multimodal sensor data (camera, LiDAR, radar) and familiarity with 3D representations such as BEV grids, voxel fields, or tri-planes
• Strong implementation skills in Python and PyTorch, with experience training large generative models at scale using distributed training
• Passion for building AI that understands and predicts the physical world to enable safe autonomous driving

What We Offer:

• Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses
• Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)
• MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance
• Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies
• Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA
• Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging
• Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)
• Fidelity 401(k)
• Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA

The pay range listed below reflects the base salaryin our SF/Silicon Valley location,across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package

$190,000 - $250,000 USD

At Kodiak, we strive to build a diverse community working towards our common company goals in a safe and collaborative environment where harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited. Kodiak is committed to equal opportunity employment regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

In alignment with its business operations, Kodiak adheres to all relevant statutes, regulations, and administrative prerequisites. Accordingly, roles that carry more sensitive requirements may be limited to candidates that can satisfy additional scrutiny and eligibility for such positions may hinge on verification of a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status. Should the position require, and Kodiak determines that a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status necessitate an export license, bar the candidate from the position, or otherwise fall under national security-related restrictions, Kodiak will consider the candidate for alternative positions unaffected by such restrictions, under terms and conditions set forth at Kodiak’s sole discretion, or, as an alternative, opt not to proceed with the candidate’s application. If applicable, Kodiak may provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates.