AI Research Engineer, VLA Models jobs in United States
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1X · 1 month ago

AI Research Engineer, VLA Models

positionPalo Alto, CA
timeFull-time
remoteOnsite
seniorityMid, Senior Level
money$180K/yr - $300K/yr

1X is a company that builds humanoid robots to address labor shortages. The AI Research Engineer will be responsible for developing autonomous capabilities and integrating vision, control, and learning for task performance in unstructured environments.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)ManufacturingRobotics
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H1B Sponsor Likelynote

Responsibilities

Take end-to-end ownership of autonomous capability development: data review, model design, deployment, and fleet performance monitoring
Train NEO to perform whole-body manipulation and navigation tasks in unfamiliar environments
Design robust evaluation metrics to support scalable model pre-training
Experiment with cutting-edge vision-language and generative model techniques to predict robot actions
Collaborate with controls, QA, and data teams to deploy reinforcement learning policies to the production fleet

Qualification

PythonDeep learning frameworksSimulation environmentsGeneralization in autonomous systemsEvaluation metrics designCross-functional collaboration

Required

Strong programming skills in Python and familiarity with build systems like Bazel
Experience using deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch
Proficiency in simulation environments like Isaac Sim or MuJoCo
Deep understanding of generalization in autonomous systems
Experience designing and validating evaluation metrics in real or simulated environments
Ability to work cross-functionally with controls, QA, and data teams to operationalize models

Benefits

Health, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) with company match
Paid time off and holidays

Company

1X

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1X is an engineering and robotics company that develops humanoid robots designed to work alongside humans.
dateFounded in 2014
location
Moss, Ostfold, NOR
people-size201-500 employees
web-link
https://www.1x.tech

H1B Sponsorship

1X 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 (16)
2024 (3)
2023 (1)

Funding

Current Stage
Growth Stage
Total Funding
$136.49M
Key Investors
EQT VenturesOpenAI Startup Fund
2025-07-07Series B
2024-01-11Series B· $99.94M
2024-01-11Secondary Market

Recent News

36kr.com
With 5 million views, 1X has truly applied the "world model" to its robot NEO.
2026-01-16
Business Insider
An OpenAI-backed humanoid robot startup says it's moving away from using humans to train its Optimus rival
2026-01-16
TechCrunch
Neo humanoid maker 1X releases world model to help bots learn what they see
2026-01-15
Company data provided by crunchbase