2026 Summer Intern, MS/PhD, Research, Simulation and Planning

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Since its start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has focused on building the Waymo Driver—The World's Most Experienced Driver™—to improve access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo’s fully autonomous ride-hail service and can also be applied to a range of vehicle platforms and product use cases. The Waymo Driver has provided over ten million rider-only trips, enabled by its experience autonomously driving over 100 million miles on public roads and tens of billions in simulation across 15+ U.S. states.

The mission of the Waymo AI Foundations team is to develop machine learning solutions addressing open problems in autonomous driving, towards the goal of safely operating Waymo vehicles in dozens of cities and under all driving conditions. As part of our work, we also initiate and foster collaborations with other research teams in Alphabet. AI Foundations areas that we are currently focusing on include reinforcement learning, learning from demonstration, generative modeling, Bayesian inference, hierarchical learning, and robust evaluation.

You Will:

• Develop cutting-edge machine learning approaches for behavior and agent modeling
• Train and evaluate machine learning models
• Write robust and well-tested code
• Collaborate with people from research and production teams
• Publish findings in academic conferences and journals

You Have:

• Currently enrolled in a MS / PhD program in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field
• Strong experience programming in Python or a similar language with robust and efficient code
• Experience in machine learning
• Experience with modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., JAX, TensorFlow 2, Pytorch).
• Ability to collaborate within and across teams

We Prefer:

• Behavior and agent modeling experience
• Simulation experience
• Reinforcement Learning experience
• Background in Transformer models as well as working with LLMs or VLMs

General Perks:

• Help solve challenging problems with a direct impact on the company
• Competitive compensation packages with a housing/relocation bonus (if applicable)
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Fun intern events and networking opportunities

Onsite Perks:

• Free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks 
• Free access to Google shuttles
• Onsite gym

Note: This will be a hybrid onsite internship position. We will accept resumes on a rolling basis until the role is filled. To be in consideration for multiple roles, you will need to apply to each one individually - please apply to the top 3 roles you are interested in.

At Waymo, we don’t just accept differences - we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

The expected hourly rate for this full-time position is listed below. Interns are also eligible to participate in the Company’s generous benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements.Hourly Masters Pay$50.49—$50.49 USDThe expected hourly rate for this full-time position is listed below. Interns are also eligible to participate in the Company’s generous benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements.Hourly PhD Pay$60.10—$60.10 USD