Full-Time

Research Engineer

Machine Learning & Systems

Posted on 10/31/2025

World Labs

World Labs

51-200 employees

Generates interactive 3D scenes from images

No salary listed

San Francisco, CA, USA

In Person

Category
AI & Machine Learning (2)
,
Required Skills
Python
Tensorflow
CUDA
Pytorch
C/C++
Computer Vision
Reinforcement Learning
Requirements
  • 3+ years of experience in applied machine learning, research engineering, 3D, or related development roles, ideally in fast-paced or startup environments.
  • Proficiency with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow, and solid understanding of generative modeling, deep learning, or reinforcement learning.
  • Demonstrated ability to work across different problem domains (e.g., computer vision, simulation, graphics, or systems).
  • Proven track record of delivering robust prototypes and/or production systems.
  • Strong coding skills in Python (additional experience with C++ or CUDA a plus) and comfort with GPU-accelerated computing.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across research and product-focused teams.
  • Nice to have: Contributions to open-source projects in ML, systems, or developer tools.
  • Nice to have: Experience with large-scale training or distributed systems (multi-GPU or multi-node).
  • Nice to have: Familiarity with deployment and integration of ML models in production settings.
  • Nice to have: Experience writing efficient low-level code (e.g., CUDA kernels, performance optimization).
Responsibilities
  • Research, design, and implement machine learning models and systems across multiple domains (vision, generative AI, simulation, rendering).
  • Develop efficient software pipelines and infrastructure for data curation, training, evaluation, and deployment.
  • Translate research insights into production-ready solutions, collaborating with product teams to meet real-world requirements.
  • Contribute hands-on to all aspects of the engineering cycle—prototyping, optimization, integration, and scaling.
  • Stay current with the latest research trends and explore opportunities to apply new methods to product and system development.
  • Share technical expertise with colleagues, mentor junior team members, and promote engineering best practices.
Desired Qualifications
  • Contributions to open-source projects in ML, systems, or developer tools.
  • Experience with large-scale training or distributed systems (multi-GPU or multi-node).
  • Familiarity with deployment and integration of ML models in production settings.
  • Experience writing efficient low-level code (e.g., CUDA kernels, performance optimization).

World Labs is building tools for spatial intelligence through Large World Models (LWMs) that can perceive, generate, and interact with 3D environments. Its main product is an AI system that can turn a single image into an entire interactive 3D scene, useful for gaming, simulation, and digital content creation. The technology works by taking a 2D image and generating full 3D representations and interactions, forming a platform or service for developers to create 3D content and experiences. Unlike many competitors, World Labs focuses specifically on zero-shot 3D scene generation from a single image and providing end-to-end 3D content creation capabilities as a scalable platform. Its goal is to enable rapid creation and manipulation of rich 3D worlds for developers and companies in gaming, simulation, and digital media.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Late Stage VC

Total Funding

$1.2B

Headquarters

Stanford, California

Founded

2024

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Autodesk's $200M investment enables AEC industry collaboration since February 2026.
  • $230M funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Nvidia reached $1B valuation in 2025.
  • Google Cloud partnership provides scalable compute and enterprise distribution.

What critics are saying

  • NVIDIA Omniverse erodes gaming differentiation within 6-12 months.
  • Google DeepMind's Genie 2 surpasses Marble in agentic reasoning by mid-2027.
  • Autodesk integrates and commoditizes World Labs' IP in 12-24 months.

What makes World Labs unique

  • World Labs' Marble generates exportable 3D Gaussian splat assets from single images.
  • Large World Models predict physics, lighting, and spatial interactions beyond 2D language AI.
  • Fei-Fei Li's spatial intelligence focuses on persistent, editable 3D environments.

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Benefits

Hybrid Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-20%

1 year growth

-19%

2 year growth

-8%
NextTech Today
Mar 16th, 2026
Autodesk invests $200M in World Labs to develop spatial AI for the physical world

Autodesk has made a $200 million strategic investment in World Labs, the spatial AI startup co-founded by Stanford computer scientist Dr Fei-Fei Li. The investment gives Autodesk an advisory role and close collaboration on research focused on physical-world AI systems that understand space, structure, materials, physics and time. World Labs develops multimodal world models designed to understand and generate realistic three-dimensional environments. Autodesk said this aligns with demands from its core industries—architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing—where designing requires AI that can reason in three dimensions and support iterative workflows. CEO Andrew Anagnost said the investment represents a departure from AI spending focused on ever-larger models. The partnership aims to develop AI that understands geometry and physics rather than language alone.

World Labs
Feb 19th, 2026
World Labs Announces New Funding

An update on our vision for spatial intelligence in 2026.

PR Newswire
Nov 20th, 2025
Cisco Invests in Spatial Intelligence Pioneer World Labs

World Labs is redefining what's possible by giving AI the ability to generate, reason within, and interact with 3D worlds News Summary Cisco Investments is...

Bloomberg L.P.
Sep 13th, 2024
AI Pioneer Fei-Fei Li Raises $230 Million for New Startup World Labs

Andreessen Horowitz, Ashton Kutcher and Nvidia are among the investors.

Swipeline
Aug 15th, 2024
World Labs secures $100M funding

World Labs, founded by Stanford Professor Fei-Fei Li, secured $100 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation in a round led by NEA. The company completed two funding rounds within two months, with the first in April involving Andreessen Horowitz and Radical Ventures. World Labs, which became a unicorn four months post-establishment, develops AI models for gaming and robotics that can create detailed digital replicas of real-world objects and environments without extensive data.

INACTIVE