Software Engineer - Media

xAI’s mission is to create AI systems that can accurately understand the universe and aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. Our team is small, highly motivated, and focused on engineering excellence. This organization is for individuals who appreciate challenging themselves and thrive on curiosity. We operate with a flat organizational structure. All employees are expected to be hands-on and to contribute directly to the company’s mission. Leadership is given to those who show initiative and consistently deliver excellence. Work ethic and strong prioritization skills are important. All engineers and researchers are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.

About the role

We’re looking for exceptional media engineers who want to join us on a new project to deeply integrate xAI’s advanced AI infrastructure into a platform used by around 600 million users every month. We’re bringing xAI’s technology stack and using it to transform the video product experience - video playback, live streaming, Spaces, audio/video calls, and more. This is your chance to contribute in a major way while leveraging all of the powerful AI tools and talented colleagues at xAI. 

What You'll Do

• Build the next generation of large-scale  video services
• Contribute to and rebuild core media processing pipelines in high-performance languages (Rust/C++)
• Obsess over every millisecond and pixel,  ensuring end-to-end media quality and performance at scale across a rich suite of products and user platforms

Who You Are

• Proficient in high performance Rust or C++
• In-depth knowledge and experience building high performance media processing pipelines 
• Obsessed with media quality, performance, and product experience

Tech Stack 

• Golang, Python, Rust, C++

Interview Process

After submitting your application, the team reviews your CV and statement of exceptional work. If your application passes this stage, you will be invited to a 15-30 minutes phone interview, during which a member of our team will ask technical questions. If you clear the phone interview, you will proceed to next steps:

1. Deep dive coding challenge
2. Meet and greet with the wider team

Our goal is to complete the process within one week. All interviews will be conducted in person when applicable.

Location

The role is based in Palo Alto. Candidates are expected to be located near the Bay Area or open to relocation.

Benefits

Base salary is just one part of our total rewards package at xAI, which also includes equity, comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and various other discounts and perks.

Annual Salary Range

$180,000 - $440,000 USD

xAI is an equal opportunity employer.

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