Research Intern, Quality & Safety - AI Safety

About the team

At Zoom, we're redefining how AI bridges Communications to Completions. We are the Responsible AI Team, dedicated to ensuring that advanced AI systems are safe, reliable, and aligned with human values. Our mission is to pioneer research and develop practical solutions that make AI systems trustworthy, controllable, and beneficial for society.

What you can expect

We are seeking exceptional PhD students to join our team as Research Interns. You will work on cutting-edge research to ensure the safety, reliability, and alignment of the world's most advanced AI systems. This internship offers the opportunity to actively contribute to both foundational research and real-world product impact.

Research Focus Areas

As an intern, you will contribute to one or more of the following interconnected research areas:

1. AI Agent System Quality Evaluation & Benchmarking

• Design and develop comprehensive evaluation frameworks and benchmarks for state-of-the-art AI systems, including agentic AI and foundation models
• Create novel metrics and methodologies to assess AI system capabilities, safety, and reliability
• Build datasets and benchmarks for quality evaluation across diverse scenarios and modalities

2. Controllable & Aligned AI

• Research methods to ensure AI systems remain controllable and aligned with human intentions and values
• Develop techniques for robustness, interpretability, controllability, and ethicality (RICE principles)
• Explore alignment training approaches including reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) and related methodologies
• Investigate methods to prevent agentic misalignment in autonomous AI systems

3. Red Teaming & Adversarial Robustness

• Design and execute adversarial testing strategies to identify vulnerabilities in AI systems
• Develop automated red teaming tools and frameworks to stress-test model safety controls
• Research novel attack vectors including prompt injection, jailbreaking, and multimodal adversarial inputs
• Contribute to identifying failure modes in both adversarial and benign user scenarios

4. AI Guardrail Solutions & Defense Systems

• Build robust guardrail systems to defend against adversarial attacks and harmful outputs
• Develop runtime monitoring and content moderation solutions
• Create self-improving security systems that anticipate evolving threats
• Research defense-in-depth strategies for comprehensive AI safety

What we're looking for

Required:

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, or a related technical field
• Have programming skills in Python and experience with ML frameworks (PyTorch, Huggingface, vLLM, SGLang)
• Possess a strong foundation in machine learning, deep learning, and/or NLP
• Demonstrate ability to conduct independent research
• Have strong written and verbal communication skills

Preferred:

• Have publications in top-tier venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, EMNLP, FAccT, AIES, or similar)
• Have prior research experience in AI safety, alignment, red teaming, adversarial robustness, or evaluation
• Have experience with large language models (LLMs) or generative AI systems
• Have familiarity with RLHF, constitutional AI, or other alignment methodologies
• Have previous internship experience in ML/AI research

What You'll Gain

• Hands-on experience benchmarking and securing world-class AI systems
• Mentorship from leading researchers in Responsible AI
• Opportunity to publish state-of-the-art research and contribute to open-source projects
• Collaborative environment working with cross-functional teams
• Direct impact on making AI safer for everyone

Salary Range or On Target Earnings:

Minimum:

$66.50

Maximum:

$106.50

In addition to the base salary and/or OTE listed Zoom has a Total Direct Compensation philosophy that takes into consideration; base salary, bonus and equity value.

Note: Starting pay will be based on a number of factors and commensurate with qualifications & experience.

We also have a location based compensation structure;  there may be a different range for candidates in this and other locations.

Ways of Working
Our structured hybrid approach is centered around our offices and remote work environments. The work style of each role, Hybrid, Remote, or In-Person is indicated in the job description/posting.

Benefits
As part of our award-winning workplace culture and commitment to delivering happiness, our benefits program offers a variety of perks, benefits, and options to help employees maintain their physical, mental, emotional, and financial health; support work-life balance; and contribute to their community in meaningful ways. Click Learn for more information.

About Us
Zoomies help people stay connected so they can get more done together. We set out to build the best collaboration platform for the enterprise, and today help people communicate better with products like Zoom Contact Center, Zoom Phone, Zoom Events, Zoom Apps, Zoom Rooms, and Zoom Webinars.
We’re problem-solvers, working at a fast pace to design solutions with our customers and users in mind. Find room to grow with opportunities to stretch your skills and advance your career in a collaborative, growth-focused environment.

Our Commitment​

At Zoom, we believe great work happens when people feel supported and empowered. We’re committed to fair hiring practices that ensure every candidate is evaluated based on skills, experience, and potential. If you require an accommodation during the hiring process, let us know—we’re here to support you at every step.

We welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives including qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records and any qualified applicants requiring reasonable accommodations in accordance with the law.

If you need assistance navigating the interview process due to a medical disability, please submit an Accommodations Request Form and someone from our team will reach out soon. This form is solely for applicants who require an accommodation due to a qualifying medical disability. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed.

Think of this opportunity as a marathon, not a sprint! We're building a strong team at Zoom, and we're looking for talented individuals to join us for the long haul. No need to rush your application – take your time to ensure it's a good fit for your career goals. We continuously review applications, so submit yours whenever you're ready to take the next step.