Job Description

Machine Learning Intern, Summer 2026

About Pinterest

Millions of people around the world embark on journeys of discovery on Pinterest, seeking creative ideas, dreaming of new possibilities, and planning for memories that will last a lifetime. Our mission is to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that powerful vision is brought to life by the exceptional individuals behind our product.

At Pinterest, you’ll discover a career path where you can ignite innovation that touches hundreds of millions, transform your passion into unparalleled growth opportunities, celebrate unique experiences, and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Crafting a career you truly love? It’s Possible.

With a global community exceeding 550 million users and an astounding 300 billion ideas saved, Pinterest Machine Learning Interns play a pivotal role in crafting the personalized experiences that empower Pinners to create a life they love. Despite our massive global reach, our company maintains a nimble and collaborative spirit with just over 3,000 global employees. Our teams are small, mighty, and continually growing. As an intern, you’ll gain hands-on access to an incredible vault of diverse data and contribute to the development of large-scale recommendation systems in ways you simply won’t find anywhere else.

About the Machine Learning Intern Role

As a Machine Learning Intern at Pinterest, you will dive deep into tackling the most exciting and complex challenges in machine learning and artificial intelligence. This is a unique opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research with direct, tangible applications across various Pinterest engineering teams. You’ll engage in collaborative projects and benefit from expert mentoring, while contributing to advancements in critical areas such as:

• Image Recognition: Enhancing how we understand visual content.
• User Modeling: Building sophisticated representations of Pinner preferences and behaviors.
• Recommender Systems: Crafting the next generation of personalized discovery.
• Search & Ranking: Optimizing relevance and utility across all user interactions.
• Ads: Innovating on intelligent advertising solutions.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP): Extracting insights from text and understanding intent.
• Neural Networks & Deep Learning: Pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities.
• Personalization: Delivering uniquely tailored experiences to every Pinner.
• Graph Representation Learning: Leveraging the power of connected data.
• Big Data Analytics: Deriving actionable intelligence from vast datasets.

What You’ll Do

As a Machine Learning Intern, you will be empowered to:

• Lead Your Own Project: Take ownership of a significant machine learning or artificial intelligence research project from conception to completion, directly impacting Pinterest’s product and users.
• Build Intelligent Models: Collect, rigorously analyze, and synthesize findings from massive datasets to construct innovative, data-driven models.
• Engineer Robust Solutions: Write clean, efficient, well-documented, and sustainable code that scales.
• Solve Complex Problems: Apply advanced machine learning, natural language processing, and graph analysis techniques to solve challenging modeling and ranking problems across discovery, ads, and search platforms.
• Drive Impact: Scope and independently solve moderately complex problems, demonstrating accountability for the quality and timely completion of your tasks and projects.
• Collaborate & Grow: Actively collaborate with your team, contribute to team discussions, and seek guidance from experienced mentors as needed.

What We’re Looking For

Minimum Qualifications:

• Currently working towards a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Statistics, Information Sciences, or a closely related technical field.
• Proficiency in at least one robust systems language such as Java, C++, or Python, OR expertise in one modern ML framework like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or MLFlow.
• Demonstrated experience with big data technologies (e.g., Hadoop/Spark) and the design of scalable, real-time systems capable of processing stream data.
• Proven experience in conducting impactful research and a strong track record in solving complex analytical problems.
• A strong communicator and collaborative team player with a natural ability to devise creative solutions for open-ended problems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Authorship of publications in top-tier conferences or journals within machine learning, AI, data science, data analytics, statistics, or related technical fields.
• A profound interest in cutting-edge research coupled with a passion for applying machine learning to solve impactful, real-world problems on the Pinterest product.

Why Intern at Pinterest?

• Meaningful Work: Your contributions will directly impact the daily lives and inspirational journeys of millions of users worldwide.
• Expert Mentorship: Learn from and be guided by some of the most experienced and respected engineers and researchers in the fields of machine learning and AI.
• Exceptional Growth & Development: Participate in dedicated professional development workshops, networking events, and speaker series designed to build your technical skills, expand your professional connections, and accelerate your career trajectory.
• Competitive Compensation: Receive a generous monthly salary for your valuable contributions.
• Innovative Environment: Work on challenging problems at the intersection of AI, creativity, and user experience.

Internship Logistics & Important Information

This is a 12-week paid internship experience, structured to accommodate varying academic calendars. By applying to this role, you will be considered for multiple Machine Learning intern positions open across various teams within Pinterest.

Please Note: To ensure an efficient recruitment process, we kindly request that you apply only once if you are based in the USA or Canada. Multiple applications may unfortunately delay our review process.

Internship Dates:

We are offering two fixed start dates for our Summer 2026 internships:

• May 18, 2026 – August 7, 2026
• June 15, 2026 – September 4, 2026

Location & Work Model:

Depending on your assigned team, our summer internships will be located either fully remote or operate on a hybrid model, with access to our vibrant offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, or Seattle. We believe the nature of your work guides our collaboration style; while not always in the office, we gather for crucial moments of collaboration and connection. If your role requires in-person collaboration, you would need to be located within a commutable distance from one of our Pinterest offices.

Compensation:

For US-based applicants, the monthly salary for this impactful internship position is $12,100. We are committed to transparency in compensation, and while this role has a fixed monthly rate, final salaries for full-time positions are based on a number of factors including location, relevant prior experience, and specific skills and expertise.

Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

At Pinterest, we are profoundly committed to fostering a workplace that is truly equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every single employee. We embrace a culture where talent thrives, and we make employment decisions solely on the basis of merit. We believe in having the best qualified people in every role.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.