Software Engineer, SpaceXAI
Platform Infrastructure, Rust, C++
$180-440k
Plus equity
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
Building artificial intelligence
Open for applications
Building artificial intelligence
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$180-440k
Plus 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
- 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 employees are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates
- Systems programming experience in C, C++, or Rust
- Computer systems fundamentals with a grasp of how computers execute code from transistors to high-level applications
- Hands-on expertise with Kubernetes (K8s), including cluster architecture, pod lifecycle, networking (CNI), storage (CSI), service mesh, and production-grade operations
Desirable
- Collaborate in a fast-paced, open environment to design and foundational systems
- Strong debugging skills across the full stack — from kernel and OS up through container orchestration layers
- Deep knowledge of operating systems internals (process scheduling, memory management, file systems, and synchronization primitives)
- Proficiency in performance analysis, profiling, and low-level optimization techniques
- Solid understanding of computer networks and the TCP/IP stack
- Experience working with Linux kernel concepts or systems-level debugging tools (e.g., perf, gdb, strace, Wireshark)
- Proficiency deploying and managing workloads using Kubernetes manifests, Helm, Operators, and GitOps workflows
- Solid understanding of containerization technologies (Docker, containerd, crio) and their interaction with the Linux kernel
- Experience with observability and monitoring in distributed systems (Prometheus, Grafana, VictoriaMetrics, OpenTelemetry, or similar)
What the job involves
- Design, build, and implement a large-scale distributed system that powers one of the world's largest supercomputing clusters
- Dive into the low-level stack to profile, debug, and optimize performance across diverse systems, including GPUs, Linux kernel, networking, and filesystems, to achieve peak efficiency
- Collaborate on hardware, software, and algorithm co-design to push the boundaries of AI training
- Maintain and innovate on our codebase to ensure scalability and reliability
- Develop tools to enhance team productivity and streamline workflows
Our take
SpaceXAI, formerly XAI, is Elon Musk's venture into the world of artificial intelligence, and like all things Musk, it's going big. It's setting out to build AI that helps humanity understand the universe, and it's 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, SpaceXAI is certainly pushing towards artificial general intelligence at serious scale.
Like all bold ventures, SpaceXAI has faced its share of controversy, from questions about regulation to the overlap across Musk's businesses (most recently, XAI became a subsidiary of the Musk-owned SpaceX). But fans are still seeing the bigger picture: an interconnected tech ecosystem where AI, social media, and space exploration feed into one another.
The company made headlines in 2024 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
Palo Alto, 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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