Hardware Intern in San Francisco

About the Team OpenAI's Legal team plays a crucial role in furthering OpenAI's mission by tackling innovative, fundamental legal issues in AI. If you're passionate about doing significant and unique work as a technology lawyer, this team is for you. The team comprises legal professionals from diverse fields, including technology, privacy, IP, corporate, cybersecurity, employment, tax, regulatory, and litigation. About the Role We’re growing our world-class Legal team and seek an experienced counsel to lead our global hardware IP portfolio initiatives, including patent, trademark and other intellectual property matters related to our business. This role is highly cross-functional across OpenAI, including work across our Legal, Communications, Global Affairs, Product, Research and Executive teams. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees. In this role, you will: Own global hardware IP initiatives, including setting and executing on the strategic direction and management of our hardware IP portfolio. Create scalable processes internally and externally with outside counsel to build, maintain and protect our hardware IP portfolio. Developing and maintaining internal hardware IP policies and programs. Engaging externally on hardware IP policy issues. Advising on strategic hardware IP deals. Advising on hardware IP issues, ranging from patent, trademark, trade secret to open source. Developing and building internal AI expertise, processes and tools to facilitate legal team work. Experience advising on complex technology transactions and inbound technology licensing. You might thrive in this role if you: Have at least 10+ years of combined hardware IP experience at innovative technology companies and law firms. Have a JD and license or qualification to practice in CA. Have a strong sense of ownership, are inquisitive and enthusiastic about technology, enjoy being con

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform. About the Role We are seeking an experienced SoC Architect to lead the definition and development of next-generation custom AI silicon for edge deployments. This role will be responsible for shaping the architecture of highly efficient, high-performance SoCs optimized for machine learning inference and on-device intelligence. You will work cross-functionally with internal engineering teams and external ecosystem partners to translate product requirements into scalable silicon solutions, driving execution from concept through delivery. In this role you will: Define the architecture and technical roadmap for custom SoCs targeted for edge applications. Drive system-level tradeoff analysis across compute, memory, interconnect, power, thermal, and cost constraints. Architect energy-efficient ML compute subsystems optimized for inference workloads and real-world deployment environments. Collaborate with internal hardware, software, systems, and product teams to align architecture with platform needs. Partner with external silicon vendors, IP providers, and manufacturing partners to execute development plans. Lead hardware/software co-design efforts to maximize performance per watt and end-to-end system efficiency. Guide implementation teams through microarchitecture, RTL development, validation, and bring-up phases. Operate effectively in agile development environments and help teams deliver against aggressive schedules and milestones. You might thrive in this role if: Proven exper

About the Team The Industrial Compute team is responsible for building the physical infrastructure that powers OpenAI’s largest-scale AI systems. We design, deploy, and operate next-generation compute infrastructure across a rapidly expanding global footprint, combining OpenAI-owned infrastructure with strategic cloud and infrastructure partners to support frontier AI workloads. As our infrastructure footprint grows, operational excellence across third-party providers becomes increasingly critical. Our team ensures external infrastructure partners consistently deliver the reliability, performance, and operational maturity required to support OpenAI’s rapidly expanding compute environment. About the Role We are seeking a Hardware Technical Program Manager, Infrastructure Partner Operations to lead operational delivery across OpenAI’s third-party infrastructure partners, including major cloud service providers and strategic compute vendors. In this role, you will serve as the primary operational program manager for external infrastructure partners, driving accountability for service delivery, operational readiness, incident management, performance reporting, and continuous operational improvement. You will work closely with partner engineering and operations teams while coordinating internally across Hardware Engineering, Infrastructure Operations, Capacity Planning, Networking, Supply Chain, Deployment, Reliability Engineering, and executive leadership. Success in this role requires someone who understands how hyperscale infrastructure organizations operate, can establish strong operational governance with external partners, and is comfortable driving complex technical programs without direct ownership of the underlying infrastructure. Key Responsibilities Own operational engagement with third-party infrastructure providers, ensuring consistent execution against operational commitments, service-level agreements (SLAs), and performance expectations. Develop operationa

About the Team The Future of Computing Research team is an applied research team in the Consumer Devices group focused on developing new methods and models to support our vision as we advance forward in our mission of building AGI that benefits all of humanity. About the Role As a Technical Lead on the Future of Computing Research team, you will work together with both the best ML researchers in the world and the greatest design talent of our generation to push the frontier of model capabilities. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We follow a hybrid model with 3 days a week in the office and offer relocation assistance to new employees. In this role, you will: Evaluate and select silicon platforms (GPUs, NPUs, and specialized accelerators) for on-device and edge deployment of OpenAI models. Work closely with research teams to co-design model architectures that meet real-world deployment constraints such as latency, memory, power, and bandwidth. Analyze and model system performance, identifying tradeoffs between model design, memory hierarchy, compute throughput, and hardware capabilities. Partner with hardware vendors and internal infrastructure teams to bring up new accelerators and ensure efficient execution of transformer workloads. Build and lead a team of engineers responsible for implementing the low-level inference stack, including kernel development and runtime systems. Run through the necessary walls to take nascent research capabilities and turn them into capabilities we can build on top of. You might thrive in this role if you: Have experience evaluating or deploying workloads on GPUs, NPUs, or other specialized accelerators. Understand the performance characteristics of transformer models, including attention, KV-cache behavior, and memory bandwidth requirements. Have designed or optimized high-performance compute systems, such as inference engines, distributed runtimes, or hardware-aware ML pipelines. Have experience building or leading teams work

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops silicon and system-level solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. The team builds next-generation AI-native silicon and systems while working closely with software, research, and manufacturing partners to co-design hardware tightly integrated with AI models. In addition to delivering systems for OpenAI’s supercomputing infrastructure, the team develops the tools, methodologies, and strategic partnerships needed to accelerate hardware innovation. About the Role We’re seeking an experienced Hardware Strategic Sourcing Manager to own sourcing strategy and supplier partnerships for fiber and optical interconnect components across OpenAI’s next-generation AI infrastructure. Reporting to the Head of Partnerships & Strategic Sourcing, you will lead sourcing across fiber cable assemblies, internal optical harnesses, fiber shuffles, optical backplane assemblies, connectorized and standalone passive optical assemblies, fiber-array units (FAUs), fiber-to-chip and coupling interfaces, detachable connectors, optical routing, and assigned optical packaging, assembly, and test services. You will work closely with electrical engineering, optical engineering, systems engineering, mechanical and packaging engineering, quality, rack integration, data-center deployment,manufacturing, supply chain, finance, legal, and program management teams to translate demanding bandwidth, signal integrity, reliability, and scale requirements into resilient supplier partnerships and scalable commercial strategies. Your work will directly support the performance, reliability, manufacturability, and scale of the high-speed optical connectivity required for OpenAI’s next-generation AI systems. In this role, you will: Develop and execute a comprehensive sourcing strategy for fiber and optical interconnect components supporting high-bandwidth AI systems and infrastructure. Own sourcing across optical fiber cable assembli

About the Role OpenAI’s Applications organization spans rapidly growing Consumer, Enterprise, Developer, and Hardware businesses. As we scale across EMEA, APAC, and LATAM, we’re building the financial and operating model that will help our regional teams make faster, better decisions. We are hiring a senior Strategic Finance partner to help shape that work. You’ll serve as a trusted advisor to regional GMs, connecting market strategy with business performance and guiding where and how we invest. By bringing together insights across growth, revenue, OpEx, headcount, and marketing effectiveness, you’ll help leaders understand market health, set priorities, and drive measurable outcomes. You’ll create the frameworks, operating rhythms, and decision processes needed to scale our international business, while contributing to broader Strategic Finance priorities across Marketing. This role is based in our San Francisco HQ. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees. Periodic international travel is expected. In this role, you will: Own an integrated view of OpenAI’s international performance—spanning countries, regions, and Consumer, Enterprise/API, and Developer businesses—to guide growth, resource allocation, and investment decisions. Partner with regional GMs and functional leaders to shape country strategies spanning Product, Sales, Growth and Brand Marketing, Partnerships, Communications, and Policy. Lead regional financial planning and forecasting, tracking budgets, headcount, capacity, investments, and risks against the company plan. Build and operationalize investment frameworks across markets, channels, and programs, evaluating expected returns, opportunity costs, and tradeoffs to recommend what to fund and when. Create regional and country scorecards and lead regular business reviews that track key metrics, surface risks, drive decisions, and ensure follow-through. Design decision rights and escal

About the team The Fleet team at OpenAI supports the computing environment that powers our cutting-edge research and product development. We oversee large-scale systems that span data centers, GPUs, networking, and more, ensuring high availability, performance, and efficiency. Our work enables OpenAI’s models to operate seamlessly at scale, supporting both internal research and external products like ChatGPT. We prioritize safety, reliability, and responsible AI deployment over unchecked growth. About the role As a software engineer on the Fleet Hardware team, you will be responsible for the reliability and uptime of all of OpenAI’s compute fleet. Minimizing hardware failure is key to research training progress and stable services, as even a single hardware hiccup can cause significant disruptions. With increasingly large supercomputers, the stakes continue to rise. Being at the forefront of technology means that we are often the pioneers in troubleshooting these state-of-the-art systems at scale. This is a unique opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies and devise innovative solutions to maintain the health and efficiency of our supercomputing infrastructure. Our team empowers strong engineers with a high degree of autonomy and ownership, as well as ability to effect change. This role will require a keen focus on system-level comprehensive investigations and the development of automated solutions. We want people who go deep on problems, investigate as thoroughly as possible, and build automation for detection and remediation at scale. In this role, you will: Build and maintain automation systems for provisioning and managing server fleets. Develop tools to monitor server health, performance, and lifecycle events. Collaborate with clusters, networking, and infrastructure teams. Partner with external operators to ensure a high level of quality. Identify and fix performance bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Continuously improve automation to reduce manual work

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops system and infrastructure solutions tailored to the demands of advanced AI workloads. We work across the full stack—from silicon to system integration—partnering closely with internal teams and external vendors to define and deliver next-generation AI infrastructure. Our team focuses on defining scalable, high-performance system architectures and reference designs that balance performance, cost, and operational efficiency across rapidly evolving technologies. About the Role We are seeking a 3P Architect to define and drive rack- and cluster-level reference designs in collaboration with external partners. This role is responsible for translating workload requirements and system-level goals into concrete architectures, aligning partners on critical design attributes, and ensuring vendor roadmaps meet our infrastructure needs. You will work closely with performance modeling and internal architecture teams to evaluate tradeoffs, while owning the end-to-end definition and execution of third-party system designs. This includes identifying gaps in current technologies, driving vendor development, and shaping future infrastructure capabilities. This role requires strong system intuition, cross-functional leadership, and the ability to operate effectively across internal teams and external ecosystems. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance. Key Responsibilities Define rack- and cluster-level reference architectures for AI infrastructure deployments. Translate workload requirements into clear system design specifications and partner deliverables. Collaborate with performance modeling teams to evaluate architectural tradeoffs and system behaviors. Align internal stakeholders and external partners on critical system attributes (performance, cost, power, reliability, scalability). Identify gaps in current technology offerings and dr

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform. About the Role We're seeking a Software Engineer to join our First-Party Hardware team. In this role, you will design, build, integrate, and validate the software used to manufacture, qualify, and deliver our hardware from the factory. You will work across the stack to create the infrastructure that runs internally and externally to coordinate all aspects of the production process. You will create the critical tools and procedures to execute, capture, process, and present the data resulting from the end to end assembly and validation of our hardware across multiple vendors and sites. This role is hands-on and high-ownership. You will work closely across teams both internal and external to define the standards that will be used across our products to ensure the velocity and quality of our 1P hardware. You will own the implementation, deployment, and output of these systems as well their continued maintenance and SLAs. Location: San Francisco, CA (Hybrid: 3 days/week onsite). Relocation assistance available. In this role, you will: Design, develop, and maintain the software infrastructure for manufacturing process execution and data export. Own integration across internal customers and vendor systems and processes. Build and maintain the CI, release, and delivery pipeline of tooling to external partners. Build and maintain internal systems to ingest, process, deliver, and visualize critical data for internal teams and systems. Build system health monitoring, telemetry, remote d

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform. About the Role As an AI Accelerator Systems Software Technical Program manager at OpenAI, you will help bring our chips/system hardware roadmap to life, navigating an array of technical and partnership challenges. We’re looking for people excited to push the frontiers of computing by navigating technical explorations and are passionate about building. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees. In this role, you will: Manage the end-to-end software development from design to implementation for our AI acceleration systems, working across technical, cross-functional and external stakeholders Lead planning and scheduling of AI system software designs with our strategic partners and vendors Coordinate and lead internal resources and communication for efficient interaction with partners and vendors. You might thrive in this role if you: Have experience as a software technical program manager for data center system products (server, GPU, TPU, networking, storage and so on) taking products from concept to volume in a data center environment ensuring the systems scale with high quality Know end-to-end software development program management techniques from concept, design, production, deployment into the data center Want to help design some of the world’s largest supercomputing systems, working at the edge of complex hardware challenges Enjoy working with and enabling world-clas

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform. About the Role As a Hardware Chips Programs Manager at OpenAI, you will help bring our chips hardware roadmap to life, navigating an array of technical and partnership challenges. We’re looking for people excited to push the frontiers of computing by navigating technical explorations and are passionate about building. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees. In this role, you will: Manage the design and implementation planning of our ML acceleration hardware, working across technical, cross-functional and external stakeholders Lead planning and scheduling of chip hardware designs with our strategic partners and vendors Coordinate and marshal internal resources and communication for efficient interaction with partners and vendors. You might thrive in this role if you: Have experience as a technical program manager for data center hardware products (server, GPU, TPU, networking, storage and so on) Know the whole end-to-end system program management from concept, design, production, deployment into the data center Have some experience with System SW programs through NPI Want to help design some of the world’s largest supercomputing systems, working at the edge of complex hardware challenges Enjoy working with and enabling world-class AI Researchers and Engineers Are passionate about the technical program function, and enjoy independently owning and delivering on your tea

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform. About the Role We are seeking a Operations Program Manager (OPM) to serve as the single-threaded operational leader for new hardware introductions (NPI) and production ramps across OpenAI’s AI infrastructure systems. This role combines hands-on execution with strategic ownership. You will be responsible for defining the operating model, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, setting the critical path, making informed tradeoffs, escalating decisively, and ensuring hardware programs deliver on schedule, quality, cost, and scalability. Success in this role requires comfort operating in ambiguity, influencing without authority, and driving alignment across internal teams and external partners—while keeping eyes firmly on long-term system scalability and repeatability. In this role, you will: Strategic & Leadership Ownership Act as the single-threaded owner for operational readiness across NPI and ramp, accountable for outcomes from early bring-up through sustained production Translate OpenAI’s infrastructure strategy and engineering objectives into clear operating plans, execution priorities, and decision frameworks Drive alignment across Engineering, Operations, Strategic Sourcing, Finance, Capacity Planning, and Executive stakeholders by framing tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations Proactively identify inflection points where decisions or investments are required to protect long-term scale, reliability, or cost targets Influence operational strategy with manufacturing par

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform. Role summary We are seeking a Networking Operating System Firmware Engineer to help bootstrap and scale the switching layer of our AI supercomputers. In this role, you will build and maintain custom NOS images from scratch, using open source components from SONiC, SAI, FRR, and related networking stacks while working across the Linux kernel, switch ASIC SAI/SDKs, platform drivers, control-plane services, and orchestration layers. This is a software engineering role that requires a deep understanding of networking, NOS internals, switch hardware, and production systems. You will design, implement, test, and debug production NOS software across platform drivers, routing and control-plane state, ASIC programming, observability, and fleet integration. The engineer in this role should be able to work through ambiguous, open-ended technical problems and drive feature development across software, hardware, and vendor boundaries. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees. In this role, you will Design, develop, and maintain custom NOS images for large-scale AI fabrics, using open source components from SONiC, FRR, and related networking stacks. Integrate, build and configure Linux kernel components, device drivers, switch ASIC SDKs, and SAI layers. Bring up new switch platforms, including thermal and fan control, power monitoring, transceiver management, watchdogs, OSFP CMIS, L

About the team: OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform. About the role: We are seeking an experienced Optical Network Engineer to lead Laser related work within our optical interconnect efforts for large-scale compute systems. The role also requires broad, hands-on optical validation experience across IM/DD-based interconnects, working from lab characterization through production readiness and scaled deployment. In this role you will: Drive laser-focused requirements and technical direction within the broader optical interconnect roadmap. Lead evaluation and validation of optical components and subsystems, including laser-based elements, in lab and production-representative environments. Support end-to-end optical testing for IM/DD interconnects (e.g., module/system bring-up, characterization, debug, and readiness for scale). Work with external partners to align on development milestones, performance targets, and quality expectations. Own technical issue triage and resolution across performance, reliability, and manufacturability topics. Collaborate across internal teams to support integration, rollout, and operational success at scale. You might thrive in this role if you have: Strong experience in laser-focused optical engineering (development, validation, manufacturing readiness, or field support). Broad hands-on background with IM/DD optical technologies and optical test/debug workflows. Experience working with external suppliers/manufacturing partners and production-oriented execution. Demonstrated ability to debug complex t

About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops system and infrastructure solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. We work closely with research, software, and external hardware partners to shape the next generation of AI systems, from silicon through full-scale deployments. Our team focuses on understanding and optimizing performance across the full system stack—ensuring that architectural decisions are grounded in rigorous, quantitative analysis of real-world workloads. About the Role We are seeking a Performance Modeling Lead to build and lead a small, high-impact team responsible for answering forward-looking architectural questions across AI infrastructure systems. You will develop modeling frameworks and methodologies to evaluate system-level tradeoffs and guide key design decisions. Your work will directly influence reference architectures, vendor designs, and long-term infrastructure strategy. This role sits at the intersection of AI workloads, system architecture, and quantitative modeling, and requires strong technical judgment, ownership, and the ability to translate complex analysis into clear, actionable guidance. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance. Key Responsibilities Build and own a performance modeling framework/toolchain to evaluate AI systems across multiple levels of abstraction. Analyze and quantify architectural tradeoffs across compute, memory, networking, storage, and system topology. Develop performance models to guide decisions on: scale-up vs. scale-out architectures interconnect and network design memory hierarchy and system balance. Translate modeling outputs into clear recommendations for internal teams and external hardware vendors. Influence reference designs and vendor roadmaps through data-driven insights. Partner closely with machine learning, systems, and hardware teams to understand workload characte