World Model Research Scientist- Physical AI

Job Description

Job Description

Kodiak AI, Inc. (Nasdaq: KDK), founded in 2018, is a leader in Physical AI, developing driverless technology that powers machines that move. Its Kodiak Driver is a vehicle-agnostic autonomous driving system that combines AI-powered software with modular hardware. Today it operates in long-haul trucking, industrial trucking, and defense. In 2024, Kodiak launched commercial Driver-as-a-Service operations with no one in the cab, and plans to launch driverless long-haul service between Dallas and Houston by the end of 2026.

Kodiak has partnered with many of the biggest names in freight, including Bosch for scaled hardware production, AWS, and leading customers including Atlas Energy Solutions, IKEA, Bridgestone, Werner Enterprises, C.R. England, Roehl Transport, and General Dynamics Land Systems.

Kodiak is building AI that doesn't just perceive the world, it learns how the physics of the world works. We are developing large-scale generative world models that learn to predict realistic, physically consistent futures from real-world sensor data. This capability serves as the foundation for scalable closed-loop training, validation, and long-tail scenario generation, and is distilled into the onboard models that drive our autonomous trucks. We are looking for a research scientist to lead the design and development of world models capable of generating multi-sensor, multi-view, temporally coherent driving scenarios conditioned on actions, 3D scene context, and text.

In this role, you will:

• Design and train generative world models that synthesize realistic multi-camera video and LiDAR conditioned on ego trajectories, 3D scene context, and text
• Research and implement conditional diffusion architectures for driving, including spatiotemporal attention, latent space design, and action-conditioned generation
• Develop techniques for multi-view geometric consistency in generated outputs, drawing on neural rendering, cross-view attention, and 3D-aware generative approaches
• Build methods for joint multimodal generation that maintain cross-sensor consistency between camera, LiDAR, and radar outputs
• Design evaluation frameworks that measure world model quality beyond pixel-level metrics, including scenario fidelity and autoregressive stability
• Scale training pipelines to learn from thousands of hours of real-world driving data across multiple sensor modalities

What you'll bring:

• PhD in Computer Science, AI, Robotics, or a related field, with a focus on generative modeling, neural rendering, or video synthesis
• Strong publication record or demonstrated research contributions in diffusion models, video generation, neural radiance fields, 3D-aware generative models, or world models
• Experience with neural rendering and view synthesis and an understanding of multi-view geometric consistency
• Proficiency working with multimodal sensor data (camera, LiDAR, radar) and familiarity with 3D representations such as BEV grids, voxel fields, or tri-planes
• Strong implementation skills in Python and PyTorch, with experience training large generative models at scale using distributed training
• Passion for building AI that understands and predicts the physical world to enable safe autonomous driving

What We Offer:

• Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses
• Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and  MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)
• MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance
• Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies
• Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA
• Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging
• Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance
• Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation) 
• Fidelity 401(k)
• Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA
• Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)

The pay range listed below reflects the base salary  in our SF/Silicon Valley location,  across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package

California Pay Range

$190,000—$250,000 USD

At Kodiak, we strive to build a diverse community working towards our common company goals in a safe and collaborative environment where harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited. Kodiak is committed to equal opportunity employment regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

In alignment with its business operations, Kodiak adheres to all relevant statutes, regulations, and administrative prerequisites. Accordingly, roles that carry more sensitive requirements may be limited to candidates that can satisfy additional scrutiny and eligibility for such positions may hinge on verification of a candidate's residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status. Should the position require, and Kodiak determines that a candidate's residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status necessitate an export license, bar the candidate from the position, or otherwise fall under national security-related restrictions, Kodiak will consider the candidate for alternative positions unaffected by such restrictions, under terms and conditions set forth at Kodiak's sole discretion, or, as an alternative, opt not to proceed with the candidate's application. If applicable, Kodiak may provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates.

We use a third-party AI tool (Endorsed) to assist in the initial screening of applications. As part of the evaluation process, we provide Endorsed with job requirements and candidate-submitted applications. Final hiring decisions are made by our human recruitment team, and no automated system makes the ultimate decision regarding hiring. Certain features of the platform may qualify it as an Automated Employment Decision Tool (AEDT) under applicable regulations. We began using Endorsed on January 1, 2026. You can review the independent bias audit report covering our use of Endorsed [here](-law-144). By submitting your application, you acknowledge that your application may be processed by AI systems as part of the screening and selection process. If you have any questions or would like to request a separate review of your application, please contact View email address on ziprecruiter.com with "Separate Review Request" in the email subject line.