Demo

Internship, Software Engineer, Core Infrastructure, AI (Winter/Spring 2026)

Tesla
Palo Alto, CA Intern
POSTED ON 12/25/2025
AVAILABLE BEFORE 1/24/2026
What To Expect
Consider before submitting an application:

This position is expected to start around January 2026 and continue through the Winter/Spring term (approximately April 2026) or into Summer 2026 if available and there is an opportunity to do so. We ask for a minimum of 12 weeks, full-time and on-site, for most internships. Our internship program is for students who are actively enrolled in an academic program. Recent graduates seeking employment after graduation and not returning to school should apply for full-time positions, not internships.

International Students: If your work authorization is through CPT, please consult your school on your ability to work 40 hours per week before applying. You must be able to work 40 hours per week on-site. Many students will be limited to part-time during the academic year.

The Core Infrastructure team empowers our Autonomy organization in accelerating the iteration, validation, and release of Robotaxi & Optimus features. This includes orchestrating millions of jobs across distributed compute clusters, managing thousands of Tesla AI computers, designing & maintaining CI/CD pipelines for deployment and release, enabling “developer” sessions for our custom FSD hardware, and advancing software development through AI Agentic workflows. The team also focuses on building resilient backend systems with high-availability, high-throughput and low end-to-end latency.

What You'll Do

  • Design & bring up AI Agentic workflows that spans across all stages of development from triaging issues to shipping features
  • Design & implement backend infrastructure to handle iteration and batch processing of inference, simulation, and evaluation workloads based on real-world sensor data
  • Influence architectural decisions with focus on security, scalability, reliability and high performance
  • Setup & maintain monitoring, metrics and reporting systems for fine-grained observability/actionable alerting
  • Work closely with the other Autopilot teams to design & implement backend components required for future features/processes


  • What You'll Bring

  • Proficiency with Python and/or Golang
  • Familiarity with PyTorch
  • Experience with Linux especially in networking, virtualization and filesystems
  • Experience with container orchestration tools like Kubernetes and deployment tools like Ansible or similar
  • Experience with concurrency programming
  • Experience with data stores like PostgreSQL and Redis
  • Familiarity wtih Bazel is a plus
  • Pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or relevant field of study with a graduation date between 2026 - 2027


  • Benefits
    Compensation and Benefits
    As a full-time Tesla Intern, you will be eligible for:
  • Aetna PPO and HSA plans > 2 medical plan options with $0 payroll deduction
  • Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
  • Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans. Both have an option with a $0 payroll contribution
  • Company Paid (Health Savings Account) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High Deductible Medical Plan with HSA
  • Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
  • 401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
  • Company Paid Basic Life, AD&D, and short-term disability insurance
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Sick time after 90 days of employment and Paid Holidays
  • Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
  • Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
  • Commuter benefits
  • Employee discounts and perks program


  • Expected Compensation

    $100,000 - $150,000/annual salary benefits

    Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

    , Tesla

    Salary : $100,000 - $150,000

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