AI Engineer, Whole Body Controls, Optimus

Build whole-body motion policy models for Optimus on Tesla’s Whole Body Controls team, spanning training from pre-training through reinforcement learning.

Responsibilities

• Design and iterate on network architectures for whole-body motion policies, world models, and learned dynamics models
• Build, tune, and scale training recipes including losses, curricula, optimization, and pre-training to reinforcement-learning pipelines
• Create robust data pipelines and data engines to feed model training at scale
• Develop evaluation benchmarks that support fast, iterative model improvement
• Increase the robustness of learned policies and deploy them on Optimus

Requirements

• Proficiency in Python (including numpy and PyTorch)
• Deep learning fundamentals covering architectures, optimization, training dynamics, and representation learning
• Proficiency with modern network architectures (for example, transformers and sequence models), including experience designing and adapting them
• Experience training neural networks in PyTorch, including large-scale or distributed training
• Experience building robust data pipelines and data engines for large-scale model training
• Preferred: experience designing novel architectures or training recipes that shipped to production; exposure to world models, imitation learning, or reinforcement learning; any robotics, control, or multimodal-sensing exposure
• Equivalent experience through projects, research, or coursework is acceptable

Technologies

• Python
• numpy
• pytorch / PyTorch
• transformers
• sequence models

Location

• Palo Alto, CA (onsite)

Compensation

• Expected compensation: $176,000 - $420,000 per year
• May include cash and stock awards and benefits
• Pay offered may vary based on individualized factors; total compensation package may include other elements depending on the position offered

Benefits

• Medical plans with options including $0 payroll deduction, and healthcare at day 1 of hire
• Family-building, fertility, adoption, and surrogacy benefits
• Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans with options including a $0 paycheck contribution
• Company paid HSA contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA (Health Savings Accounts)
• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) with employer match
• Employee Stock Purchase Plans
• Other financial benefits
• Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
• Employee Assistance Program
• Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, accrued hours for Hourly positions) and paid holidays
• Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
• Voluntary benefits: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
• Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
• Tesla Babies program
• Commuter benefits
• Employee discounts and perks program

Equal Opportunity & Accommodations

• Tesla is an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer committed to diversity in the workplace
• All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity, or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws
• Tesla is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities; let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation during the interview process