Research Internship, Robotics

About the Role

Ai2’s Robotics team is looking for PhD student interns to join our team. As a research intern in the Robotics team, you’ll have the unique opportunity to support the development and investigate core research problems in foundation models and skills for robotics, contribute to the development of completely open data sets, benchmarks, and models, and experiment with robots in the real world. Our research covers the full spectrum of robotics ranging from low-level control, scaling simulation to solve real-world robotics challenges, world models, RL, and investigating agentic systems for robotics.

At Ai2, you will be working with world-class AI researchers and talented software engineers. We perform team-based, ambitious research, with a mandate to strive for big breakthroughs, not just incremental progress, in an exciting and interactive workplace. All interns are paired with a mentor and will participate directly in Ai2's groundbreaking work. There are no restrictions on publications based on internships.

Responsibilities

• Conducting AI research under the guidance of a mentor, which may include building AI systems or system components, developing datasets, and/or conducting experiments
• Reading the scientific literature to investigate and understand AI research
• Meeting with the mentor to discuss research progress and ideas

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Pursuing a PhD in robotics, machine learning, or related fields
• Have an interest and experience in cutting-edge artificial intelligence and robotics research

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven track record of publishing at robotics and AI conferences, such as CoRL, ICRA, IROS, RSS, and NeurIPS
• Strong software engineering skills in physics simulation, machine learning, and robot control

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position for long periods of time
• The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand
• Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations
• The ability to observe details at close range
• Can work under deadlines

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

About Ai2

Ai2 is a Seattle-based non-profit AI research institute founded in 2014 by the late Paul Allen. Our mission is building breakthrough AI to solve the world’s biggest problems. We develop foundational AI research and innovation to deliver real-world impact through large-scale open models, data, robotics, conservation, and beyond.

We are a learning organization – because everything Ai2 does is ground-breaking, we are learning every day. With a wide variety of world-class AI experts as guest speakers, and our commitment to your personal on-going education, Ai2 is a place where you will have opportunities to continue learning alongside your coworkers.

We value diversity – we seek to hire, support, and promote people from all genders, ethnicities, and all levels of experience regardless of age. We particularly encourage applications from women, non-binary individuals, people of color, members of the LGBTQA+ community, and people with disabilities of any kind.

We value inclusion – we understand the value that people's individual experiences and perspectives can bring to an organization, and we are building a culture in which all voices are heard, respected and considered.

We emphasize a healthy work/life balance – we believe our team members are happiest and most productive when their work/life balance is optimized. While we value powerful research results which drive our mission forward, we also value dinner with family, weekend time, and vacation time. We offer generous paid vacation and sick leave as well as family leave.

We are collaborative and transparent – we consider ourselves a team, all moving with a common purpose. We are quick to cheer our successes, and even quicker to share and jointly problem solve our failures.

We are in Seattle – and our office is on the water! We have mountains, we have lakes, we have four seasons, we bike to work, we have a vibrant theater scene, and we have so much else. We welcome interest from applicants from outside of the United States.

We are friendly – chances are you will like every one of the 200+ (and growing) people who work here. We do.

Benefits

• Team members and their families are covered by medical, dental, vision, and an employee assistance program
• Team members are able to enroll in our health savings account plan, our healthcare reimbursement arrangement plan, and our health care and dependent care flexible spending account plans
• Team members will receive $125 per month to assist with commuting or internet expenses and will also receive $200 per month for fitness and wellbeing expenses
• Team members will accrue sick days per year in line with Seattle sick time requirements
• If you are usually scheduled to work on a holiday that Ai2 recognizes as a day off, you will be paid for this day

Compensation

Compensation dependent on current degree enrollment:

• Research Intern, Undergrad: $94,320 (Annually)
• Research Intern, Masters: $106,110 (Annually)
• Research Intern, PhD: $140,000 (Annually)

Pay is competitive, and visa sponsorship is available. International candidates are welcome to apply.

Work Arrangement

Persons in these roles are expected to work from our offices in Seattle. On-site requirements vary based on position and team.

Additional Information

• Duration: 12 weeks
• Start Date: Flexible
• Candidates: A PhD student with a strong research background
• Application deadline: January 8, 2027, at 11:00pm Pacific Time (for Spring/Summer 2027 internships)