AI Research Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara, CA
AI Research Engineer jobs in Santa Clara are in strong demand, concentrated in the central business district around El Camino Real, the Lawrence Expressway corridor, and the Tasman tech cluster, across semiconductor design, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise AI platforms. Employers hiring right now include AMD, NVIDIA, and Palo Alto Networks. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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At NVIDIA, we are building Cosmos world foundation models and generative AI systems for Physical AI across robotics, autonomous driving, smart spaces, and embodied agents.
The NVIDIA Cosmos Platform enables multimodal world understanding, simulation, synthetic data generation, and embodied reasoning. We are looking for outstanding PhD interns to help advance the frontier of Physical AI and world models.
What you’ll be doing:
Conduct research in generative AI, multimodal foundation models, world models, and embodied AI.
Develop algorithms for video understanding/generation, action-conditioned simulation, multimodal reasoning, and policy learning.
Train and evaluate large-scale models using video, image, language, and robotics or autonomous driving data.
Collaborate with researchers and engineers across AI, robotics, simulation, and graphics teams.
Publish research at top conferences and transfer innovations into NVIDIA products.
What we need to see:
Currently pursuing a PhD in CS, EE, Robotics, or related fields.
Strong background in generative AI, computer vision, multimodal learning, robotics, or reinforcement learning.
Prior publication record and research experience.
Strong Python and PyTorch skills.
Ways to stand out from the crowd:
Experience with large-scale foundation model training.
Research in video models, VLMs, world models, robotics, or autonomous driving.
Experience with distributed training, simulation, or embodied AI.
NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people in the world working for us. If you're creative and autonomous, we want to hear from you!
Our internship hourly rates are a standard pay based on the position, your location, year in school, degree, and experience. The hourly rate for our interns is 38 USD - 94 USD.You will also be eligible for Intern benefits.
Applications for this job will be accepted at least until September 19, 2026.This posting is for an existing vacancy.
NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.
NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.See All 208+ AI Research Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara
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Find AI Research Engineer JobsAI Research Engineer Job Market in Santa Clara
Who's Hiring
- AMD59

- NVIDIA59

- Palo Alto Networks30

- Apple15

- ServiceNow15

Top Industries Hiring
- Law & Legal Services15
- Technology & Software15
- Electronics & Hardware15
AI Research Engineer Jobs in Santa Clara: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a ai research engineer job in Santa Clara?
Focus your search on Santa Clara's dominant hiring sectors: semiconductor and chip design firms along the Lawrence Expressway corridor, hyperscale cloud providers near Tasman Drive, and enterprise software companies throughout the central business district. Candidates who combine deep ML research skills with hands-on experience in hardware-aware model optimization or large-scale inference systems stand out locally. Building a public research portfolio and contributing to open-source projects that align with silicon or cloud workloads gives you a measurable edge in this market.
Which companies hire ai research engineers in Santa Clara?
Employers hiring ai research engineers in Santa Clara right now include AMD, NVIDIA, and Palo Alto Networks, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Santa Clara's employer mix skews heavily toward semiconductor manufacturers, hyperscale data center operators, and enterprise AI platform companies with large on-site research teams.
Are there remote ai research engineer jobs in Santa Clara?
Yes, though remote availability is moderate for this role since much ai research engineer work tied to Santa Clara involves on-site collaboration with hardware teams and access to proprietary compute clusters. About 75% of ai research engineer openings tied to Santa Clara are remote or hybrid as of September 2026. Roles focused on software-side modeling, algorithm development, and paper-driven research tend to offer the most location flexibility among local postings.
How can I get a ai research engineer job in Santa Clara with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path in Santa Clara is through research internships at semiconductor companies or cloud infrastructure teams that recruit directly from university programs, including partnerships with nearby Stanford and UC Berkeley. Target entry-level titles such as research intern, associate research engineer, or machine learning engineer I at firms along the Tasman Drive and Great America Parkway corridors. A strong graduate thesis, published work, or a well-documented open-source project in areas like model compression, efficient transformers, or hardware-software co-design carries significant weight with Santa Clara hiring teams.
Which industries hire the most ai research engineers in Santa Clara?
The sectors hiring the most ai research engineers in Santa Clara are Law & Legal Services, Technology & Software, and Electronics & Hardware, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Santa Clara's position as a global center for chip design and cloud infrastructure means those sectors consistently generate the highest volume of research-focused openings in the city.
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