PhD Intern – AI/LLM Networking

Job Description

Research Intern (AI/LLM Network) – 2026 Start (PhD) | ByteDance

The Tone:
This is a PhD research internship at ByteDance, a global technology company founded in 2012 with a mission to inspire creativity and enrich life. ByteDance operates a suite of over a dozen popular products, including TikTok and Douyin, serving hundreds of millions of users worldwide. The ByteDance Networking team is responsible for designing, building, and operating the intelligent, hyperscale network infrastructure that underpins these applications. This role is critical for advancing the network architecture, software-defined networking, and high-speed technologies essential for next-generation AI and large language model applications, directly contributing to the organization’s future plans and emerging technologies.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Temporary
• Location: US-based (specific city not provided)
• Pay: $60 hourly
• Team: ByteDance Networking
• Mission: To design, implement, and optimize high-speed network technologies and systems for AI/LLM applications, enhancing their scalability, reliability, and performance.
• Tech Stack: C/C++, Python, Go, RDMA, NCCL, MPI, RPC libraries

What You’ll Actually Do
• Innovate: Design, implement, and deploy high-speed network technologies to support cutting-edge AI/LLM applications.
• Develop: Create and build platforms and systems for the monitoring, analysis, and diagnosis of large-scale AI/LLM networks.
• Optimize: Research and develop high-performance AI communication frameworks, network protocol stacks, and co-design optimizations of host-network-application to enhance network scalability, reliability, and performance.
• Contribute: Stay abreast of the latest academic and industry technologies, identify innovative system components, and publish findings in academic papers.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Doctorate Degree. Currently pursuing a PhD in computer networking or a related technical discipline.
• Experience: Practical experience with at least one of the following areas: computer network and network programming, mainstream programming languages like C/C++, Python, or Go, high-speed network systems including RDMA or AI network optimization, high-performance communication frameworks (NCCL, MPI, RPC libraries), or software systems for AI network diagnosis and performance optimization.
• Skills:
• Strong proficiency in computer networking fundamentals and practical network programming.
• Demonstrated expertise in one or more mainstream programming languages, including C/C++, Python, or Go.
• Familiarity with the latest advancements in high-speed network systems, such as RDMA, advanced congestion control mechanisms, and AI network optimization techniques.
• Bonus:
• Familiarity with AI training/inference systems and software-hardware co-design.
• Publications in top-tier networking conferences such as NSDI, SIGCOMM, OSDI, or SOSP.