Data Engineering Intern - AI & Analytics (Fall 2026)

About this role

ABOUT US

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

ROLE SUMMARY

We are seeking an AI Engineer Intern to contribute to research and development across speech, vision, language, and multimodal AI systems. You will work closely with researchers and engineers to build, train, evaluate, and deploy advanced models for conversational and in-vehicle applications. This role offers hands-on experience across the full AI development lifecycle, with an emphasis on scalable, robust, and efficient models.

About the About the Data Engineering, AI & Analytics Internship: We are looking for talented interns to join various teams within our Data, AI & Analytics department.

Program Details:

- Timeline: Full-time, September 21 – December 18

- Location: Palo Alto, CA

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Contribute to the research and development of generative and discriminative AI models for:

- Speech and audio systems, including ASR, TTS, speech-to-speech, speaker modeling, diarization, and audio understanding.

- Vision and video understanding, using transformer-based architectures for spatial and spatiotemporal modeling, self-supervised learning, and diffusion-based generative models.

- Multimodal and foundation models, such as Vision-Language and Speech-Language Models that integrate visual, audio, speech, and text modalities.

- Train, supervised fine-tune (SFT), and evaluate deep learning and foundation models on large, domain-specific datasets.

- Apply reinforcement and generative policy learning techniques, including imitation learning, preference-based optimization, and alignment methods (e.g., RLHF, RLAIF, DPO).

- Curate, preprocess, and manage multimodal datasets, including audio, image, video, text, and preference or trajectory data.

- Design and execute experiments to explore new modeling, generative, and alignment approaches.

- Collaborate with cross-functional teams and clearly document experimental workflows and results.

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Qualifications:

- Currently pursuing an MS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, or a related field at US university.

- Strong Python programming skills and experience with PyTorch or TensorFlow.

- Solid understanding of machine learning, deep learning, generative modeling, and reinforcement learning fundamentals.

Preferred Qualifications

- Hands-on experience with diffusion models, SFT, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, or preference-based optimization.

- Experience working with multimodal or foundation models.

- Exposure to distributed training or large-scale inference systems.

- Contributions to research projects, publications, or open-source software.

- Familiarity with transformer-based architectures, diffusion models, or modern speech/video/language modeling approaches.

- Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor) for coding, experimentation, or rapid prototyping.

- Ability to learn quickly and contribute effectively in a collaborative research and engineering environment.

TOTAL REWARDS

We build the exceptional — and we believe the people doing that work should be rewarded accordingly. In addition to a competitive base salary, full-time positions may be is eligible to participate in our annual company performance bonus program.

Payments are discretionary and not guaranteed; actual amounts depend on company results and the terms of the plan in effect, and require active employment at the time of payout. This role is also eligible for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), subject to board approval and the terms of our equity incentive plans, including applicable vesting requirements.

In addition to our compensation programs, we invest in our people with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, wellbeing, and financial future for full-time employees — including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs. Offerings vary by country. Learn more about our global benefit programs https://rvtech.mybenefits.life/.

External candidates can apply for this role through the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies careers site (https://rivianvw.tech/#careers). If you are a current employee, please apply through our internal job board https://app.ashbyhq.com/internal/job-board/b10a9912-eb45-4a84-9a34-84b2a459923a.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are also committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable fair employment practice laws regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist…