General Motors · 10 hours ago
2026 Summer Intern – AV Architecture & System Design (PhD)
Sunnyvale, California, United States of America
Internship
Hybrid
Intern
$13,100/mo - $13,100/mo
Start in 2026 SummerGeneral Motors is seeking a 2026 Summer Intern for their AV Architecture & System Design team. The intern will help develop a Synthetic Novel Architecture Prototyping & Simulation Environment to accelerate exploration of future AV system architectures.
AutomotiveElectric VehicleInformation ServicesManufacturingTransportation
Responsibilities
Contribute to the Synthetic Novel Architecture Prototyping & Simulation Environment, extending models of sensing, compute, and networking for future AV products
Integrate and adapt components of the AV stack to operate within new system architecture configurations in simulation
Use our system evaluation framework and data pipelines to quantify trade-offs between architectures along axes such as safety, performance, robustness, and scalability
Analyze cost and integration complexity impacts of different architecture choices across multiple GM vehicle programs
Prototype and evaluate novel AV system architectures, from high-level concepts down to concrete, testable configurations
Collaborate with autonomy software, vehicle integration, data, and validation teams to align architecture concepts with real-world constraints
Communicate findings and recommendations through clear technical documentation, presentations, and design discussions
Qualification
Required
Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Robotics, or a related STEM field
Solid understanding of modern, state-of-the-art autonomy/AV system architectures, including perception, prediction, planning, and control pipelines
Very strong Python and C++ programming skills, with experience developing and debugging production-quality code
Experience with data pipelines (e.g., building or using data tooling for large-scale logs or experiments) and training machine learning models (e.g., perception, representation learning, or decision-making)
Ability to reason about systems-level trade-offs (latency, bandwidth, reliability, safety margins, compute/memory footprint)
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment
Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset
Able to work full-time (40 hours per week) during the internship period
Preferred
Research or project experience in autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), or robotics
Experience with simulation environments for AV/robotics (e.g., sensor simulation, HIL/SIL, scenario-based testing)
Familiarity with systems architecture concepts (e.g., distributed systems, real-time systems, safety-critical software, middleware)
Experience working with large-scale datasets and experimentation frameworks for evaluating ML or AV system performance
Experience with ROS/ROS2 or similar robotics middleware is a plus
Demonstrated ability to ramp up quickly on complex codebases and ship impactful changes with limited iteration
Intent to return to your degree program after the completion of the internship
Target graduation date between December 2026 and June 2028 (or similar timeframe aligned with continuation of PhD studies)
Benefits
Paid US GM Holidays
GM Family First Vehicle Discount Program
Result-based potential for growth within GM
Intern events to network with company leaders and peers
Company
General Motors
General Motors is an automotive company that designs, produces, markets, and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts.
Founded in 1908
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
General Motors has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (787)
2024 (740)
2023 (450)
2022 (795)
2021 (748)
2020 (452)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$8.51BKey Investors
US Department of Energy
2025-05-05Post Ipo Debt· $2B
2024-10-31Grant· $8M
2024-07-11Grant· $500M
Leadership Team
Mary Barra
Chair and Chief Executive Officer
Tony Cervone
Senior Vice President, Global Communications
Recent News
2026-02-08
2026-02-07
2026-02-07
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