Machine Learning Scientist Intern (TikTok-Content Ecology—LLM application) - 2026 Start (PhD)

TikTok
San Jose, California

About the job

The Content Ecology Algorithm Team drives TikTok’s AI innovations in LLMs, NLP, Computer Vision (CV), multimodal learning, and recommendation algorithms. We develop cutting-edge AI capabilities that power multiple business lines, including Local Services, Search, Core Video Architecture, Professional Content (PGC), and User Growth (UG).

Responsibilities

- Develop and optimize LLM, NLP, CV, and recommendation models to improve TikTok’s content ecosystem.

- Implement multimodal AI solutions, integrating video, text, and speech understanding.

- Optimize LLM-powered search, discovery, and content recommendation systems for better user engagement.

- Train and fine-tune deep learning models using TensorFlow, PyTorch, or other ML frameworks.

- Deploy and scale machine learning solutions in a distributed computing environment.

- Work closely with AI researchers, software engineers, and business teams to apply AI technologies effectively.

Qualifications

Minimum

- PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or a related field.

- Strong programming skills in Python, C++, or similar languages.

- Hands-on experience with deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.

- Solid understanding of machine learning, NLP, CV, or recommendation algorithms.

Preferred

- Experience with distributed computing and optimizing AI models for real-world applications.

- Ability to apply machine learning techniques to enhance business and user experiences.

- Publications in top AI/ML conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, ACL, etc.) or strong contributions to open-source AI projects.