Research Intern, FlexOlmo Team

Job Title: Research Intern, FlexOlmo Team

Location: Remote from Berkeley, CA (Interns will be based in Berkeley, CA, with opportunities to engage actively with the University of California, Berkeley, and the BAIR lab.)

Compensation (Annually):

• Research Intern, Undergrad: $94,320
• Research Intern, Masters: $106,110
• Research Intern, PhD: $140,000

About the FlexOlmo Team & Role:
Ai2 is seeking talented and motivated Research Interns to join the FlexOlmo team, a small, tightly knit group working on cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) designed for flexible data use. The team focuses on innovative architectures and training methods, including Mixture-of-Experts (MoE), long-context language models (LCLMs), and retrieval-augmented systems. FlexOlmo’s mission is to build the foundation for the next generation of LLMs, broadening the types of data they can leverage and ultimately enhancing performance through improved training, inference-time conditioning, and retrieval. The team also develops scientific methodologies for evaluating and understanding these complex systems, producing high-impact research and expertly engineered open-source tools to accelerate NLP research worldwide. The first major release from FlexOlmo in July 2025 focused on a new Mixture-of-Experts architecture, and future plans include creative, groundbreaking research that delivers scientific insights and practical solutions for unlocking the use of large and diverse data sources.

Key Responsibilities & Opportunities as a Research Intern:

• Define and lead a high-impact research project.
• Train and release leading models.
• Collaborate with and learn from team members across Ai2, and engage with external researchers.
• Build open-source software for the research community.
• Author scientific papers for publication in a high-profile conference or journal.

Internship Details:

• Duration: 12 weeks
• Start Date: Flexible (currently hiring for start dates in 2026)
• Application Deadline: January 31, 2026 at 11:00pm Pacific Time (for Spring/Summer 2026 internships)
• Candidates: A PhD candidate or a master/undergraduate student with a strong research background.
• Contact: For questions, please reach out to olmo-careers@allenai.org.

Qualifications (What You’ll Need):

• Education: Pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science or a similar field with research experience in machine learning, natural language processing, language and vision, or related areas. Master’s/undergraduate students with a strong research background will also be considered.
• Technical Skills: Outstanding individual contributor (IC) skills, especially with deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch).
• Research & Publications: An outstanding publication record at AI-related venues such as NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, COLM, ACL, EMNLP. The quality of publications in terms of rigor and impact will be specifically evaluated, not the quantity.
• Experience: Research experience in areas such as large language models, training dynamics, scaling laws, and data curation. Experience with Mixture-of-Experts (MoE), long-context language models (LCLMs), and retrieval is preferred but not required.
• Location: Located [or willing to relocate] in Berkeley, CA.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position for long periods of time.
• The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
• The ability to observe details at close range.
• Can work under deadlines.

About Ai2 (The Allen Institute for AI):
Ai2 is a Seattle-based non-profit AI research institute founded in 2014 by the late Paul Allen. Our mission is building breakthrough AI to solve the world’s biggest problems. We develop foundational AI research and innovation to deliver real-world impact through large-scale open models, data, robotics, conservation, and beyond.

Ai2 Culture & Values:

• Learning Organization: Committed to continuous learning through weekly Ai2 Academy lectures, world-class AI guest speakers, and personal ongoing education.
• Diversity & Inclusion: We seek to hire, support, and promote people from all genders, ethnicities, and all levels of experience regardless of age. We particularly encourage applications from women, non-binary individuals, people of color, members of the LGBTQA+ community, and people with disabilities of any kind. We value the individual experiences and perspectives that contribute to a culture where all voices are heard, respected, and considered.
• Healthy Work/Life Balance: Values powerful research results while also prioritizing dinner with family, weekend time, and vacation time. Offers generous paid vacation, sick leave, and family leave.
• Collaborative & Transparent: A team-oriented environment with a common purpose, quick to celebrate successes and jointly problem-solve failures.
• Location (Seattle): Ai2’s main office is in Seattle (on the water, with access to mountains, lakes, and a vibrant cultural scene), welcoming international applicants. While this internship is Berkeley-based, it reflects Ai2’s overall commitment to impactful research.

Benefits:

• Health Coverage: Medical, dental, vision, and an employee assistance program for team members and their families.
• Savings & Reimbursement: Eligibility to enroll in health savings account (HSA) plans, healthcare reimbursement arrangement (HRA) plans, and health care and dependent care flexible spending account (FSA) plans.
• Expenses Support: $125 per month for commuting or internet expenses, and $200 per month for fitness and wellbeing expenses.
• Time Off: Accrued sick days per year in line with Seattle sick time requirements, and paid holidays.
• Additional: Competitive pay and visa sponsorship is available.

Legal & EEO Statements:
Ai2 is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. You may view the related Know Your Rights compliance poster and the Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision by clicking on their corresponding links.
This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities to the full extent required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you feel you need a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the ADA, you are encouraged to contact us at recruiting@allenai.org.
This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an at-will relationship.