AI Research Fellow (AI)

Location: San Francisco office; full-time, in-person participation required for the three-month program

Compensation: $5,000 per month ($15,000 per three-month fellowship)

Company

Baseten builds AI inference infrastructure and developer tooling for companies deploying mission-critical machine learning products, while Base Labs researches and open-sources frontier large language models.

What you will do

• Conduct full-time research on frontier AI and machine learning problems.
• Develop rigorous original research with support from a dedicated senior researcher mentor.
• Produce research intended for publication and presentation at venues such as ICML, NeurIPS, and Grace Hopper.
• Work autonomously without relying on a predefined research roadmap.
• Contribute to the research culture and agenda of the newly established Base Labs.
• Connect research outcomes to decisions about Baseten's products and technical roadmap.

Requirements

• Enrollment in or recent completion of a PhD in machine learning, artificial intelligence, statistics, or a closely related field.
• A publication record or research portfolio demonstrating original and rigorous thinking.
• Interest in the practical purpose and impact of research, not only the technical problem.
• Ability to work with autonomy and operate without a defined roadmap.
• Willingness to be in San Francisco and fully embedded with the team for the duration of the program.
• Interest in building a research culture rather than only participating in an established one.

Nice to have

• Exceptional research or production experience outside traditional academic credentials.
• Experience working with production systems and insights gained from research engineering or operating roles.

Culture & Benefits

• Three fellows are each paired one-to-one with a senior researcher mentor.
• Funding for compute and other research expenses.
• Housing, meals, and travel are covered during the fellowship.
• Opportunities to publish and present research at leading venues.
• Top performers may be considered for a full-time role.

Hiring process

• Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis for cohorts starting in September 2026 and later.
• Applicants are matched with one of three senior researchers for one-to-one mentorship.