Winter 2026

AI Engineer Intern

LLM Data

Institute of Foundation Models

Institute of Foundation Models

Researches and develops foundation models

No salary listed

Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

In Person

Bachelor's, Master's, PhD

Category
AI & Machine Learning (1)
Required Skills
LLM
Python
Neural Networks
PyTorch
Machine Learning
Data Analysis

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Requirements
  • Currently pursuing a Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, or a related technical field.
  • Strong programming skills in Python.
  • Good understanding of machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, or large language models.
  • Hands-on experience with large language models through research, coursework, projects, internships, or open-source work.
  • Comfortable working with datasets and performing data processing and analysis.
  • Ability to work independently and collaborate effectively in a fast-paced research environment.
Responsibilities
  • Build, curate, and improve datasets for large language model pre-training, mid-training, and post-training, including time-sensitive requests that may require fast turnaround.
  • Develop and improve data processing workflows for data extraction, cleaning, filtering, deduplication, transformation, and quality control.
  • Use large language models to generate, refine, filter, and evaluate synthetic data.
  • Analyze data quality and identify issues such as duplication, low-quality samples, distribution gaps, and coverage limitations.
  • Run experiments to understand how different data sources and processing strategies impact model performance.
  • Support model inference, evaluation, and training experiments when needed to validate data quality.
  • Research new datasets, data processing techniques, and large language model data methodologies.
  • Collaborate closely with researchers and engineers on fast-moving foundation model projects.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with PyTorch, Hugging Face, vLLM, or similar machine learning or large language model frameworks.
  • Experience with large language model data synthesis, fine-tuning, model evaluation, or prompt-based generation.
  • Familiarity with large language model training pipelines, including pre-training, supervised fine-tuning, or other post-training methods.
  • Experience working with large-scale datasets or distributed data processing.
  • Relevant research, open-source contributions, competitions, or personal projects in large language models or generative artificial intelligence.
Institute of Foundation Models

Institute of Foundation Models

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IFM builds and studies foundation models—large AI models designed to learn broadly from diverse data and be used across many tasks. Its work centers on academic research to create open, fast, and practical models that address real-world societal needs, rather than narrow applications. The models are developed by a global team across Abu Dhabi, Paris, and Silicon Valley, with a strong emphasis on openness and collaboration to advance AI science and accessibility. Unlike typical private labs that lock models behind paywalls, IFM aims to provide publicly accessible, efficient models that can be used by researchers and developers to solve real problems. The overarching goal is to push the science of foundation models forward while ensuring their benefits reach society at large.

Company Size

N/A

Company Stage

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Total Funding

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Headquarters

United Arab Emirates

Founded

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • AWS, Cerebras, Nebius, and Hugging Face distribution lowers adoption friction immediately.
  • K2 Horizon's 512K context and mobile-sized 0.9B models expand enterprise use cases.
  • MBZUAI's May 2025 launch and January 2026 K2 Think V2 show sustained output.

What critics are saying

  • Open sourcing K2 Horizon invites DeepSeek, Tencent, and Alibaba clones within months.
  • Enterprise buyers can switch to cheaper hosted models if IFM lacks sticky software.
  • If MBZUAI reprioritizes funding, IFM's Paris and Silicon Valley footprint becomes existential burn.

What makes Institute of Foundation Models unique

  • September 3, 2026 K2 Horizon shipped six Apache 2.0 models from 0.9B to 375B.
  • IFM releases weights, code, data, checkpoints, and logs, not just open weights.
  • Abu Dhabi, Silicon Valley, and Paris talent give IFM global recruiting reach.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Paid Vacation

Paid Holidays

Parental Leave

Employee Assistance Program

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

401(k) Plan

Wellness Program

Flexible Work Hours

Remote Work Options

Hybrid Work Options

Stock Options

Company Equity

Company News

PR Newswire
Sep 3rd, 2026
Institute of Foundation Models launches K2 Horizon: largest fully open-source AI model fleet with weights, code, and training data

The Institute of Foundation Models has launched K2 Horizon, a fleet of six fully open-source AI models ranging from 0.9 billion to 375 billion parameters. The models include weights, code, training data, and methodologies, allowing researchers and developers to inspect and reproduce the work. The 0.9B, 3.7B, and 7B models set new benchmarks at their respective scales. The smallest model can run on watches and glasses, whilst the 3.7B and 7B models work on phones. The dense 32B model and sparse 36B model suit local hosting, and the 375B flagship model targets enterprise deployments. Launched by Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in May 2025, IFM now operates across Silicon Valley, Paris, and Abu Dhabi. The models are available through Hugging Face, vLLM, and SGLang, with API access through partners including AWS and Cerebras. All models use the Apache 2.0 licence.