AI Anime Researcher - Motion Generation Models

3D First-Person Adventure Game AI Companion RoleWe're building a 3D first-person adventure game where an AI companion is the core of the game. Think MiSide with LLMs, but truly integrated with gameplay, not just a RP chatbot.About UsHere at Spellbrush, we're passionate about making a good anime game. We also happen to be the world's leading generative AI studio—we're the team behind nijijourney. Our mission is simple: use AI to bring characters to life and push the boundaries of narrative-driven games.We've developed an in-house LLM storytelling system that blends AI, story, and gameplay—going far beyond shallow "chat-only" experiences. The result is an AI companion who cooperates with you in puzzles, remembers across worlds, and changes how each chapter unfolds.Why You'll Love Working With UsImpact and Ownership: As an early team member, you'll have the opportunity to push the boundaries of what's possible at the intersection of the AI, anime, and video game industry.A World-Class Team: You'll work directly with some of the best AI researchers and engineers in the world in a small, mighty, and fast-paced team. You also have the opportunity to collaborate with one of the best image and video generation model teams in the world on data collection.Unparalleled Resources: You will have a generous amount of compute to build the best possible models for anime characters.Culture: We are seeking individuals who ideally are fans of anime and the anime aesthetic. We believe in the unmatched speed of in-person collaboration.International Opportunities: We have primary research offices in downtown Akihabara, Tokyo, and San Francisco. Visa sponsorships are available for qualified candidates.You May Be A Good Fit If:You Have Hands-On Experience In Training Text-To-Motion Or Audio-To-Motion ModelsYou might have previously published papers around the topic, or have worked at an industrial lab on this and related topics. You have seen the Grok AI companion and can develop systems inspired by such an audio-synced motion-generation system.You Have Experience On Facial Motion GenerationMost anime character's facial expressions are easier to generate than real people. Nevertheless, we have several magnitudes of more real human data. You'll be a good fit if you have worked on speech-driven 3D facial animation.You Have Worked On Real-Time 3D Motion GenerationWe need to interact with the character in real time. Knowing how to make that happen in terms of motion generation will be a big bonus.You Love Anime And The Anime AestheticAs a member of our team, you'll have the opportunity to push the boundaries of what's possible in the anime and video game industry. Ideally you're a fan of the genre.You're Comfortable Working On Small, Fast-Paced TeamsOur engineering team is small but mighty. You'll be working directly with some of the best AI researchers and engineers in the world. We also believe in the unmatched speed of in-person teams, and prefer on-site collaboration in either our primary research office in Tokyo (downtown Akihabara) or San Francisco. Visa sponsorships are available.You Can Effectively Balance Research Exploration With Product-Focused DevelopmentOr, putting it in RL jargon, exploration and exploitation. You excel at working with research teams to synthesize high-impact needs, design and implement technical solutions, and communicate deliverables and tradeoffs. Spellbrush