About the role#
Waymo is seeking a PhD intern to join the AI Foundations team for the Summer 2027 term. This role focuses on Recursive Self-Improvement (RSI) for autonomous driving. You will work on foundational models, physics AI, and world action models to improve the performance and quality of the Waymo Driver.
What you'll do#
- Conduct literature research on state-of-the-art developments in RSI, physics AI, and autonomous driving foundational models.
- Apply research findings to specific projects to enhance driver quality.
- Design new data and post-training recipes to reinforce the driver using critic and world models in a closed-loop setup.
- Write code to implement the RSI system.
- Review training results and perform ablation studies to iterate on algorithm design.
What you'll need#
- Current enrollment in a PhD program for Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, or a related quantitative field.
- Strong background in foundational AI model post-training, specifically reinforcement learning (RL).
- Proficiency with AI coding agents.
- Experience with RL training frameworks such as Rex, Verl, or NeMo-RL.
- Understanding of AI model training basics, including transformer architecture, hyperparameter tuning, and debugging overfitting.
- Familiarity with autonomous driving, physics AI, VLA, or world models.
- Preferred: Experience in RL for robotics, world action models, video generation, or RSI training.
Location & details#
- This is a full-time, paid internship located in Mountain View, California.
- The position follows a hybrid work model.
- The pay rate for this position is $85 per hour.
About Waymo
Waymo is a technology company that develops automated driving systems. It focuses on mobility and road safety through its Waymo Driver technology. The firm operates as a private organization and employs between 1,001 and 5,000 people. It was founded in 2009 and maintains its headquarters in Mountain View, California.
How to get in at Waymo
Applying early is a significant advantage for roles at Waymo, as recruiters often review candidates before the applicant pool grows too large. Intern Insider sends an instant alert the moment a role matching your target is published anywhere, so you can submit your materials among the first. This helps ensure your application is seen before the pile grows. You can also improve your response rates by reaching out to the people actually hiring for these positions. Intern Insider surfaces the recruiters behind the company roles, allowing you to contact them directly to ask about the team or a potential referral. It is a more effective approach than sending your resume into a queue.
