Research Scientist - Reinforcement Learning, Self-Driving

About Applied Intuition Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co . We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. About the role and team We are looking for multiple passionate Research Scientists to join the Research Group at Applied Intuition. The mission of the group is to create cutting-edge technology enabling next-generation physical AI, with emphasis on the two most challenging applications reshaping our everyday life: end-to-end autonomous driving and robotic generalist. We have a group composed of leading experts from top institutions and companies, recognized for their exceptional academic and industry contributions—including eight Best Paper awards at premier conferences and journals such as CVPR and ICRA. Learn more at appliedintuition.com/research . Supported by industry-leading tools and infra, researchers can access millions of miles of data from large fleets, and deploy methods they develop into various autonomous and robotic systems including self-driving cars/trucks, autonomous mining/construction machines, humanoid robots and dexterous hands. In addition to your research contributions, you will contribute to and learn from best practices in the autonomy and robotics industries within our fast-paced and customer-focused culture. Improvements deployed to our system immediately help our customers with their programs and deliver value to our business. We are open to all years of experience as long as the necessary requirements are met, including those with potential Tech Lead and Manager capacity. At Applied Intuition, you will: Conduct research on reinforcement learning (RL) related topics including large-scale self-play RL, VLA post-training, large-scale closed-loop RL based on neural simulation with applications to autonomous driving Diving into fundamental topics on RL with broader applications and potential imitative behavior learning incorporation, and relevant topics such as reward learning Work closely with other Research Scientists and interns on research publications for submission to top-tier conferences Collaborate with Research Engineers and engineering teams to test and deploy algorithms to our autonomy and robotics products We’re looking for someone who has: Strong research record in the fields of RL and VLA post-training for autonomous systems and robotics, with publications in top-tier conferences or journals in the fields of computer vision, machine learning, and robotics MSc or PhD in machine learning and computer vision with autonomy and robotics applications or closely-related fields Passion for next-generation, scalable autonomy and robotics for real-world systems Strong research skills and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively on projects Technical experience in: Python, Pytorch, computer vision, robotics systems, and distributed machine learning model training Nice to have: Hands-on experience in at least one of the following fields: Self-play RL and imitation learning, behavior learning VLA post-training for autonomy or robotics Large-scale closed-loop RL in driving simulation Large-scale RL training infrastructure (Ray preferred) Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401k retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment. Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new