Full-Time
Machine Learning Model Serving Engineer
Sesame
51-200 employees
Conveys real-time conversational voice interfaces
Compensation Overview
$175k - $280k/yr
San Francisco, CA, USA + 2 more
More locations: New York, NY, USA | Bellevue, WA, USA
In Person
 Software Engineering (1) |
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- Be expert in a differentiable array computing framework, preferably PyTorch.
- Be expert in optimizing machine learning models for reliable serving at high throughput and low latency.
- Have significant systems programming experience, including work on high-performance server systems and complex PyTorch codebases.
- Have significant performance engineering experience, including bottleneck analysis in high-scale server systems or profiling low-level systems code.
- Stay up to date on the latest techniques for model-serving optimization.
- Turbocharge the serving layer, which consists of a variety of large language, speech, and vision models.
- Partner with machine learning infrastructure and training engineers to build a fast, cost-effective, accurate, and reliable serving layer for a new consumer product category.
- Modify and extend large language model serving frameworks such as VLLM and SGLang to use the latest high-performance model-serving techniques.
- Work with the training team to identify opportunities to produce faster models without sacrificing quality.
- Use in-flight batching, caching, and custom kernels to speed up inference.
- Find ways to reduce model initialization times without sacrificing quality.
- Have familiarity with high-performance large language model serving, including VLLM, SGLang deployment, and framework internals.
- Have experience with a public cloud platform such as Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, or Microsoft Azure.
- Have experience deploying and scaling inference workloads in the cloud using Kubernetes, Ray, or similar technologies.
- Have a track record of leading complex multi-month projects independently.
Sesame creates voice-based companions that blend into daily life by combining advanced software with lightweight wearables. Its Conversational Speech Model (CSM) understands context in real time and responds with fluid, human-like timing, including pauses, breaths, and emotion. The hardware pieces include sleek glasses that stream high-quality audio from the voice companion, creating an always-present, non-intrusive assistant. The system integrates software, machine learning, and hardware to offer a voice interface that feels more like chatting with a friend than issuing commands. Unlike many voice systems that sound robotic, Sesame focuses on natural, intuitive speech that fits into everyday activities. The company aims to turn voice into a rich, everyday interface and provide a personal, conversational companion that is easily integrated into daily life.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series B
Total Funding
$317.7M
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Founded
2023
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- On May 28, 2026, Sesame launched its iOS app in 39 countries.
- Sequoia-backed Sesame raised $250 million in 2025, giving runway for 2027 glasses.
- Over one million users tried Maya and Miles within weeks, signaling strong demand.
What critics are saying
- Meta's June 23, 2026 $299 AI glasses compress Sesame's future hardware margins immediately.
- Sesame still lacks shipped glasses, so 2027 depends on flawless industrial design and supply chains.
- Privacy exposure is existential: always-listening companions and recording hardware invite regulatory backlash.
What makes Sesame unique
- Brendan Iribe, Ryan Brown, and Nate Mitchell bring Oculus hardware-and-product credibility.
- CSM-1B's Apache 2.0 license turns Sesame into a developer-friendly voice-model platform.
- Sesame's 2026 iOS app uses parallel search while speaking, mimicking human conversation.
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Benefits
401(k) Company Match
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Flexible Work Hours
Company News
Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founders, launches its iOS app. Sesame's new AI agents: A revolutionary approach to conversational AI. On Thursday, the AI startup Sesame, co-founded by Oculus' founders and others from the VR company that sold to Meta, released a public preview of the conversational AI agents it's been developing for over a year. With its new iOS app, Sesame is rethinking the traditional AI chatbot experience popularized by apps like ChatGPT, creating one where conversation flows, even if the AI needs time to think. As the company explains in its launch announcement, "There's an inherent tension between replying quickly and taking the time to compose thoughtful responses. A slower response is usually more correct, but it can also feel unnatural if it takes too long." Revolutionary conversational flow. To address this challenge, Sesame claims to have built fast search and retrieval systems, so the AI can have up-to-date information, as well as technology that allows it to run multiple parallel searches while speaking, weaving those results into its responses as it talks. That means the AI will talk more like a human, even pivoting mid-sentence if need be, as it taps into newer information - as a human might when remembering another key fact or point they want to add. Diverse AI agents. The app offers four distinct AI agents called Maya, Miles, Simone, and Charlie, each of which have their own distinct voice, personality, point of view, and memory. Maya and Miles were previously available in Sesame's Research Preview of its technology, where they were soon accessed by over a million people within the first few weeks, said Sesame investor Sequoia at the time. (The company had then just raised its $250 million Series B from Sequoia and others and was opening up a beta.) Enhancing user experience. During the beta, Sesame learned from user feedback and rolled out features such as search cards with image results for visualizing concepts, notes for capturing takeaways, a texting mode for those times when speaking aloud is not an option, and support for deep dives where you can get more in-depth results. There's also a new incognito mode for private conversations, which allows the agents access to prior context but saves nothing to memory. Future developments: beyond chatbots. The app, however, is only the first step toward Sesame's bigger plans for AI involving intelligent eyewear, which the team expects to launch in 2027. Before that, the agents will also learn to do more than just think with you, Sesame hints, suggesting they'll later be able to take action on your behalf - hence why they're called "agents" in the first place, instead of just chatbots. Implications for the future. That is potentially even more interesting, as working with agentic tools or apps today requires being able to prompt for what you need and have a specific idea of what you want to happen, and sometimes, even how it should happen. A conversational agent that you could talk to naturally could help you take the next steps, without you having to perfect the command you're giving it. The iOS app is out today in 39 countries, and the full experience is free for the time being. However, there still may be a short waitlist at sign-up. An Android preview is coming in the future, the company says. When you purchase through links in its articles, Gadgetarq may earn a small commission. This doesn't affect its editorial independence.
Sesame, an AI startup co-founded by Oculus founders, has launched the public preview of its iOS app featuring conversational AI agents. The app offers four distinct agents—Maya, Miles, Simone and Charlie—each with their own voice, personality and memory. Unlike traditional chatbots, Sesame's technology runs multiple parallel searches whilst speaking, allowing agents to pivot mid-sentence as new information emerges, mimicking natural human conversation. The app includes features such as search cards with images, note-taking, texting mode and incognito conversations. During beta testing, the agents were accessed by over one million people within weeks. Sesame raised $250 million in Series B funding from Sequoia and others. The company plans to launch intelligent eyewear in 2027 and will eventually enable agents to take actions on users' behalf. An Android version is coming soon.
Former Oculus execs' AI smart glasses startup 'Sesame' raises $250M Series B funding. October 24, 2025 From roadtovr Sesame, an AI and smart glasses startup founded by former Oculus execs, raised $250 million in Series B funding, which the company hopes will accelerate its voice-based AI. The news. As first reported by Tech Crunch, lead investors in Sesame's Series B include Spark Capital and Sequoia Capital, bringing the company's overall funding to $307.6 million, according to Crunchbase data. Exiting stealth earlier this year, Sesame was founded by Oculus co-founder and former CEO Brendan Iribe, former Oculus hardware architect Ryan Brown, and Ankit Kumar, former CTO of AR startup Ubiquity6. Additionally, Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell announced in June he was joining Sesame as Chief Product Officer, which he noted was to "help bring computers to life." Sesame is currently working on an AI assistant along with a pair of lightweight smart glasses. Its AI assistant aims to be "the perfect AI conversational partner," Sequoia Capital says in a recent post. "Sesame's vision is to build an ambient interface that is always available and has contextual awareness of the world around you," Sequoia says. "To achieve that, Sesame is creating their own lightweight, fashion-forward AI-enabled glasses designed to be worn all day. They're intentionally crafted - fit for everyday life." Sesame is currently taking signups for beta access to its AI assistants Miles and Maya in an iOS app, and also has a public preview showcasing a 'call' function that allows you to speak with the chatbots. My take. Love it or hate it, AI is going to be baked into everything in the future, as contextually aware systems hope to bridge the gap between user input and the expectation of timely and intelligent output. That's increasingly important when the hardware doesn't include a display, requiring the user to interface almost entirely by voice. Some things to watch out for: if the company does commercialize a pair of smart glasses to champion its AI assistant, it will be competing for some pretty exclusive real estate that companies like Meta, Google, Samsung, and Apple (still unconfirmed) are currently gunning for. That puts Sesame at somewhat of a disadvantage if it hopes to go it alone, but not if it's hoping for a timely exit into the coming wave of smart glasses by being acquired by any of the above. There's also some pretty worrying precedent in the rear view mirror too: e.g. Humane's AI Pin or AI Friend necklace, both of which were publicly lambasted for essentially releasing hardware that could just as easily have been apps on your smartphone. Granted, Sesame hasn't shown off its smart glasses hardware yet, so there's no telling what the company hopes to bring to the table outside of the having an easy-to-wear pair of off-ear headphones for all-day AI stuff - that, to me, would be the worst case scenario, as Meta refines its own smart glasses in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, Google releases Android XR frames with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, Samsung releases its own Android XR glasses, and Apple does... something. We don't know yet. Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to it, if only based on the company's combined experience in XR, which I'd argue any startup would envy as the race to build the next big computing platform truly takes off.
Sesame AI raises $250 million for smart glasses. Sesame AI, a startup founded by Brendan Iribe, has secured $250 million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia Capital and Spark Capital, to develop its innovative voice assistant technology integrated into smart glasses. The company, established in June 2023 by Iribe, the former Oculus VR co-founder, boasts a team with a strong background in AI, speech technology, and consumer hardware. Iribe serves as CEO, alongside Ankit Kumar as CTO and Ryan Brown as a founding engineer. Sesame AI is focused on creating smart glasses with advanced conversational AI, featuring AI-powered voices named "Maya" and "Miles." These voices are designed to mimic the naturalism, rhythm, and emotional expression of human dialogue, setting a new standard for voice assistant technology. Following a highly successful early demo that garnered significant public interest, Sesame AI has launched a beta version of its smart glasses. The demo was remarkably popular, with over one million people accessing it and engaging in more than five million minutes of conversation with the AI. This level of engagement underscores the public's enthusiasm for Sesame's innovative approach to voice interaction. Sesame has also made its base AI model, CSM-1B, available for commercial use under an Apache 2.0 license. The 1-billion-parameter model powers the "Maya" assistant and is notable for its permissive licensing, which allows for broad application with few restrictions. By making CSM-1B accessible, Sesame is fostering a collaborative environment that could accelerate advancements in AI technology. The company's product is positioned as a lightweight, user-friendly device that prioritizes natural speech interaction. This approach is a deliberate strategy to differentiate Sesame's smart glasses from the more expensive and bulky VR headsets offered by competitors such as Meta and Apple. By focusing on ease of use and natural interaction, Sesame aims to carve out a unique niche in the market for its innovative smart glasses.
Former Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe’s new startup, Sesame, is building AI-powered smart glasses with natural, humanlike voice interaction. Backed by Sequoia and Spark, the company also launched an invite-only iOS beta to preview its conversational AI.