Applied Researcher Intern (Ph.D) - Responsible AI

2026 Applied Researcher Intern (Ph.D.) - Responsible AI

If you are interested in being considered for this role, then please apply via our RippleMatch link:

https://app.ripplematch.com/t/4c290bfe

At eBay, we're more than a global ecommerce leader — we’re changing the way the world shops and sells. Our platform empowers millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world. We’re committed to pushing boundaries and leaving our mark as we reinvent the future of ecommerce for enthusiasts.

Our customers are our compass, authenticity thrives, bold ideas are welcome, and everyone can bring their unique selves to work — every day. We're in this together, sustaining the future of our customers, our company, and our planet.

Join a team of passionate thinkers, innovators, and dreamers — and help us connect people and build communities to create economic opportunity for all.

***Please submit only ONE application for eBay. Duplicate applications from the same candidate will result in all applications for that candidate being automatically declined. ***

Note: By applying to this position, your application will be considered for our locations in:

San Jose, CA

Applied Researcher Intern (PHD) - Responsible AI

We are seeking an Applied Researcher Intern in Responsible AI to join our team. In this role, you will work on projects associated with eBay’s research and development of our AI products and services, ensuring they align with the company's values and ethical standards. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to drive innovation and processes to deliver high-quality AI products to our customers.
• Perform end-to-end research to understand how AI systems can be designed with equity, interpretability, privacy, security, safety, and robustness as first-class concerns alongside business performance.
• Collaborate with applied researchers and applied engineering teams to drive a research project during your Internship for the Summer.
• Formulate problems, gather data, generate hypotheses, contribute to model and algorithm development, conduct studies and experiments, synthesize results, and shape prototype applications to deliver high-impact business applications.
• Participate in discussions on human-centered technology and AI, computational social science, STS, and Machine Learning / AI , as well as responsible AI, “fairness”, ethics, and/or eCommerce.
• Collaborate with team members to help define, build, and transform our businesses with a long-term goal of eliminating structural inequality and any potential systemic racism and other discrimination in our services.
• Develop subject matter expertise in responsible AI internally for the company with the potential to contribute to publications and thought leadership content.
 
What you will bring:
• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Human–Computer Interaction, Informatics, Systems and Technology Studies or related fields. Completing Degree no earlier than Dec 2026-Summer 2027.
• Understanding of responsible AI topics such as evaluation techniques for machine learning models; approaches to AI evaluation and their relationship with legal, philosophical and socio-technical concerns. 
• Practical experience with ML development pipelines and tooling.
• Research publications in prominent venues such as conference or journals, especially in the area of responsible AI such as ACM FAccT; AAAI AI, Ethics and Society; ACM CHI, or similar
• Knowledge of sociotechnical AI, equity and fairness, ethics, transparency, interpretability, safety, robustness, and/or privacy in the context of AI/ML.
• Practical experience with ML development pipelines and tooling.
• Comfort with rapid prototyping and disciplined software development processes
• Practical research experience and/or software engineering in collaborative project settings.

Impactful work on responsible AI is inherently interdisciplinary. Whether your strengths lie in social science, human-centered research, AI policy, or machine learning model development and evaluation, we encourage you to apply—you do not need to meet every qualification listed here to be a strong candidate.

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment in California, Washington, or New York is expected in the range below.

$4,960- $5,520 Bi-Weekly

Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including Location, Education level, Skills, and Experience.