2026 Summer Intern - Machine Learning Engineer - Autonomous Vehicle Engineering (phd)

Machine Learning Engineering Intern

To help facilitate administration of relocation benefits if you are selected, please apply using the permanent address you would move from.

Work Arrangement: Hybrid: This internship is categorized as hybrid. The selected intern is expected to report to the office up to three times per week or as determined by the team.

Location: Sunnyvale, California

About the Team: Offboard perception: Unlike onboard perception, which must run in real time on the AV, offboard perception can leverage larger models, greater compute, and acausal processing to achieve much higher accuracy. These high-accuracy detections support multiple consumers across the organization—for example, powering simulation and generating automated labels used to train onboard models.

About the Role: As a Machine Learning Engineering Intern, you will work alongside a world-class team of engineers and researchers on impactful AI/ML projects in robotics and advanced manufacturing. You'll gain hands-on experience contributing to the design, prototyping, and potential deployment of AI systems in real-world industrial settings. This is an excellent opportunity to explore applied research and development while learning from top experts in the field.

What You'll Do:

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to adapt and optimize machine learning models for autonomous vehicle perception, including robotics and computer vision applications.
• Help build and test components of end-to-end deep learning pipelines that process multimodal sensor data (e.g., cameras, lidars, radars).
• Assist in developing and evaluating foundation models and transfer learning techniques for use.
• Participate in translating technical and business requirements into ML prototypes.
• Gain exposure to the training, deployment, and performance monitoring of machine learning models in production-like environments.
• Learn how research ideas evolve into real-world applications and contribute to the team's innovation roadmap.

Required Qualifications:

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related STEM field.
• Availability to work full-time (40 hours per week) during the internship period.
• Demonstrated coursework, research, or projects in AI/ML.
• Strong programming skills in Python.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Exposure to deep learning architectures such as Transformers, CNNs, or Diffusion Models.
• Hands-on experience with one or more machine learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, or Keras).
• Experience with robotics, computer vision through projects or research.
• Familiarity with multimodal learning or working with sensor data.
• Interest in contributing to publications, open-source projects, or patents.
• Familiarity with systems programming languages (e.g., C++ or Java) is a plus.
• Intent to return to degree-program after the completion of the internship.
• Graduating between December 2026 and June 2027.

Compensation: The monthly salary range for this role is $13,100 per month. GM will provide a one-time lump sum taxable stipend payment to eligible students selected for the 2026 Student Program.

What You'll Get from Us (Benefits):

• Paid US GM Holidays
• GM Family First Vehicle Discount Program
• Result-based potential for growth within GM
• Intern events to network with company leaders and peers