Software Engineer, xAI
Platform Core, C++, C
$180-440k
+ equity
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
Building artificial intelligence
Be an early applicant
Building artificial intelligence
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$180-440k
+ equity
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
1001+ employees
Company mission
To build AI systems that can help humanity understand the world better.
Role
Who you are
- Hands-on systems programming experience in C or C++
- Strong operating systems fundamentals (scheduling, memory management, I/O) — you must be able to articulate in extreme detail how a computer works, from the hardware all the way up to high-level applications
- Understanding of computer networking, both in the host (OS stack) as well as common network devices like switches and routers
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Desirable
- Deep knowledge of the Linux kernel and its networking stack — transferable experience with another production-grade kernel is okay, too!
- Proficiency with debugging tools spanning kernel, network, and userspace (e.g., ftrace, perf, Wireshark/tcpdump, eBPF, gdb, and more)
- Experience bringing up new hardware from scratch — you have flashed bare-metal software on a microcontroller with JTAG, or bootstrapped a Linux kernel and rootfs on new hardware
- Demonstrated track record of developing and optimizing device/peripheral drivers — ideally for high-speed interfaces, or with advanced considerations like DMA and cache coherency
- Understanding of major peripheral hardware interface standards (Ethernet, PCIe, I2C, SPI, etc.) — you can critically review a schematic, and debug these interfaces if needed
- Experience with product security, OS/system hardening, and secure boot schemes
What the job involves
- Build and maintain the lean, high-reliability Linux-based operating system that underpins our supercomputer network fabric
- Write (or rewrite) high-performance device drivers to extract the maximum physical capability from our network and compute hardware
- Manage deployment, operation, and debugging of our platform in production, including:
- Rigorous resolution and root-causing of anomalies to ensure the system is constantly improving in reliability
- Developing and constantly improving our tools for observability and configuration management
- Collaborate with our hardware teams and external partners to design the next generation of supercomputer hardware – and then bring up our OS and software stack on it
Our take
xAI is Elon Musk's venture into the world of artificial intelligence, and like all things Musk, it's going big. Its setting out to build AI that helps humanity understand the universe and its starting with Grok, its conversational AI chatbot already integrated into X (formerly Twitter). With access to real-time data and a powerful ecosystem of Musk-led companies, xAI is certainly pushing towards artificial general intelligence at serious scale.
Like all bold ventures, xAI has faced its share of controversy, from questions about regulation to the overlap across Musk's businesses. But fans are still seeing the bigger picture: an interconnected tech ecosystem where AI, social media, and space exploration feed into one another.
Recently, the company made headlines with its massive "Colossus" supercomputer project, powered by tens of thousands of Nvidia GPUs. While the data center's temporary power setup has faced environmental scrutiny, the scale of ambition is certainly undeniable. From launching tap-to-pay features on X to building one of the most powerful AI training systems on Earth, xAI is moving fast.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Jan 2026
$20bn
SERIES E
Jul 2025
$5bn
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Total funding: $37.1bn
Company benefits
- Health and wellness: Comprehensive health insurance including medical, dental, vision, and disability coverage
- Life and family: Life and AD&D insurance and fertility benefits to ensure our team’s well-being and peace of mind
- Flexible vacation: We work hard but avoid burn out. Take time off when you need it
- Visa sponsorship: We support international talent with visa sponsorship to join our team
- 401(k) plan: Retirement savings plan to secure your financial future
Company HQ
Downtown, Burlingame, CA
Leadership
Elon Musk
(Founder)Founder, Chairman, CEO, and CTO of SpaceX. CEO and Product Architect of Tesla. Chairman and CTO of X Corp, founder of the Boring Company, co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI, and president of the Musk Foundation.
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