PhD Machine Learning Internship 2027 (USA)

Summary

Pinterest is a visual discovery platform that helps people find creative ideas and plan meaningful experiences. The PhD Machine Learning Intern will conduct applied research in machine learning and artificial intelligence, contribute to production-scale ML systems, and develop innovative solutions for Pinterest products with substantial autonomy.

Responsibilities

• Lead your own project start to finish to contribute in cutting-edge research in machine learning and artificial intelligence that can be applied to Pinterest problems
• Gain hands-on experience with production ML systems, including algorithmic research, infrastructure, data engineering, training, inference, and product, to deliver innovative solutions. You will be exposed to full-stack production ML systems
• Leverage frontier AI tools and agents to accelerate engineering implementation, including prototyping and experimentation work
• Validate AI-generated outputs through testing, code review, and critical thinking, ensuring solutions are accurate, maintainable, secure, and aligned with team standards
• Use AI to better understand unfamiliar code, investigate bugs, and summarize technical context or documentation
• Contribute in cutting-edge research in machine learning and artificial intelligence that can be applied to Pinterest problems
• Write clean, efficient, and sustainable code
• Take proactive ownership over the completion and quality of your tasks and project with minimal guidance from your mentor, manager, and peers

Skills

• Working towards a PhD in Computer Science, ML, NLP, Statistics, Information Sciences or related field
• Proficiency in at least one systems language (Java, C++, Python) or one ML framework (Tensorflow, Pytorch, MLFlow)
• Proficiency with AI-native engineering, including the design of agent-friendly codebases
• High degree of autonomy in learning new agent-first development tools
• Strong critical thinking when working with AI-generated suggestions, with a clear approach to validating correctness, performance, security, and maintainability
• Comfort iterating on prompts, refining workflows, and adapting AI-assisted approaches based on the problem, context, and constraints
• Experience in research and in solving analytical problems
• Strong communicator and team player. Being able to find solutions for open-ended problems
• Publications in machine learning, AI, data science, data analytics, statistics, or related technical fields
• Interest in research and in applying ML to impactful real-world problems on the Pinterest product

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Working towards a PhD in Computer Science, ML, NLP, Statistics, Information Sciences or related field
• Proficiency in at least one systems language (Java, C++, Python) or one ML framework (Tensorflow, Pytorch, MLFlow)
• Proficiency with AI-native engineering, including the design of agent-friendly codebases
• High degree of autonomy in learning new agent-first development tools
• Strong critical thinking when working with AI-generated suggestions, with a clear approach to validating correctness, performance, security, and maintainability
• Comfort iterating on prompts, refining workflows, and adapting AI-assisted approaches based on the problem, context, and constraints
• Experience in research and in solving analytical problems
• Strong communicator and team player. Being able to find solutions for open-ended problems

Nice to Haves

• Publications in machine learning, AI, data science, data analytics, statistics, or related technical fields
• Interest in research and in applying ML to impactful real-world problems on the Pinterest product

Benefits

• 12 weeks paid
• Depending on the team, our summer internships will be located either remote or hybrid in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York or Seattle offices.
• Flexibility to do your best work
• Mentorship: Learn from and be guided by experienced engineers and researchers in the field.
• Growth and Development: Participate in professional development workshops and networking events to build your skills and connections.