The OpenAI Residency is a six-month, full-time employment program designed to identify and develop exceptional individuals from diverse technical backgrounds and transition them into frontier AI research. Residents are embedded directly within OpenAI’s Research teams in San Francisco, working on cutting-edge problems under the mentorship of senior researchers and engineers.
The program’s goal is to discover talent with high learning velocity, originality, and technical creativity. It serves as a pathway for creative builders, cross-disciplinary researchers (from fields like physics or mathematics), and proven problem-solvers to apply their skills to the core scientific questions of artificial intelligence.
Financial Benefits
- Monthly Salary: Residents are full-time employees and receive a salary of $18,300 per month.
- Relocation Assistance: Relocation assistance is available for the move to San Francisco, CA.
- Full-Time Employment: As full-time employees, residents are eligible for OpenAI’s comprehensive benefits package.
Eligibility Criteria
OpenAI emphasizes trajectory and ability over specific credentials. They are looking for individuals who demonstrate exceptional technical skill and rapid growth potential.
Key Requirements:
- Must be extremely proficient in programming languages and software development.
- Must be very comfortable with advanced mathematical concepts (linear algebra, statistics, probability, calculus).
- Must be able to independently build or execute complex technical projects.
- Should be open to consideration for a full-time role at OpenAI after the program.
Preferred Qualifications:
- A history of creating or achieving remarkable things (e.g., competition awards, impactful personal projects, open-source contributions, publications).
- Evidence of self-study in machine learning fundamentals.
- Clear signals of originality, experimentation, or rapid learning.
Application Process
Application Timeline: The official posting states, “We expect to review applications and start interviewing as early as January 2026.” This indicates there is no specific application deadline; rather, it is a rolling review process that begins in January 2026.
The interview process will involve multiple technical assessments over several weeks. Start dates for the residency are flexible and based on team availability.
Application Link:
To submit your application, please use the official link provided by OpenAI.
