2027 Summer Intern, Machine Learning, MS/PhD, Simulation Realism (World Model)

Waymo•Mountain View, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Waymo is hiring a 2027 Summer Intern in Machine Learning for Simulation Realism (World Model). The intern will work on generative models and representations for video and physical-world simulation, with a focus on improving realism and supporting closed-loop simulation. The role involves collaborating with mentors and researchers across Waymo and Google frontier AI labs to adapt foundation world models and bring research prototypes into Waymo’s simulation pipeline. This is a hybrid onsite internship. The expected hourly pay is $70 for MS candidates and $85 for PhD candidates. Interns may participate in the Company’s benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements.

Requirements

Currently pursuing an MS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Robotics, or a related field.
Solid background in deep learning and computer vision, including hands-on experience with modern generative modeling such as diffusion models, flow matching, VAEs, or transformers.
Strong Python coding skills.
Practical experience training and debugging models in PyTorch or JAX.

Nice To Haves

Prior research or projects in video generation, world models, or generalized 3D/4D scene representations.
Exposure to 3D computer vision, multi-view geometry, physical or geometric priors, or multimodal sensor data such as camera, LiDAR, or Radar.
Contributions to open-source projects or publications in machine learning, vision, or robotics venues such as CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, or ICML.

Responsibilities

Implement, train, and evaluate generative models, such as diffusion models, flow matching, or autoregressive transformers, for video and physical-world simulation.
Experiment with unified 3D/4D and spatiotemporal representations that generalize across scenes, vehicle platforms, and sensor modalities.
Investigate conditioning, fine-tuning, and distillation methods to improve temporal consistency, physical realism, and inference speed for closed-loop simulation.
Collaborate with mentors and researchers across Waymo and Google frontier AI labs to adapt foundation world models and integrate research prototypes into Waymo’s simulation pipeline.