Real-time Video Researcher

Real-time Video Researcher About the Role At Pika, we are pioneering next-generation creative infrastructure built around real-time video generation and intelligent, agentic platforms. We are seeking an accomplished Real-time Video Researcher to drive forward our mission to make agentic real-time video technology accessible, dynamic, and transformative for millions of creators. As a core member of our research team, you will be integral to designing and building foundational technologies, developing novel approaches for real-time video synthesis, and orchestrating intelligent agentic systems that power scalable, interactive multimedia experiences. You will collaborate closely with engineering and product teams, shaping the future of real-time creative platforms. What You’ll Do - Lead and contribute to research efforts focused on real-time video generation, streaming, editing, and orchestration of agentic platform infrastructure - Design and prototype novel algorithms and architectures for real-time, high-fidelity video synthesis and interactive experiences - Focus heavily on real-time aspects of video generation and synthesis - Work on diffusion model distillation and develop diffusion-based world models for video applications - Train and finetune autoregressive models and diffusion models with a focus on real-time performance - Curate specific datasets, especially for camera motion and human motion data - Collaborate with cross-functional teams to bring research advancements into production-ready technologies - Publish work in top-tier conferences and journals, and communicate results internally and externally - Stay at the cutting-edge of the field, monitoring new developments in real-time video, generative AI, multimodal systems, and agentic orchestration What We’re Looking For - 5+ years of relevant experience, including research during graduate studies, in real-time video generation, deep learning, or related fields such as image/audio generation and deep experience in multimodals - Demonstrated impact as first author on major publications in top conferences or journals (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, frontier research background) - Deep expertise in computer vision, video synthesis, generative models, and machine learning - Hands-on experience with diffusion model distillation and developing diffusion-based world models - Experience training and finetuning autoregressive models, especially for real-time applications - Strong capability and experience in data curation, especially for camera motion and human motion datasets - Experience developing and deploying real-time video systems and/or agentic orchestration infrastructure - Strong programming and prototyping skills (Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, etc.) - Passion for building creative tools and platforms that empower users - Excellent communication and collaboration skills What We Offer - Competitive salary and substantial equity in a high-growth startup - Full health benefits + 401k matching and many more - Collaborative, mission-driven team environment with major growth opportunities - Flexible on-site/remote hybrid (HQ in Palo Alto, CA) About Pika Pika empowers creators by building state-of-the-art agentic and multimedia platforms. Our vision is to break down technical barriers to creativity, making real-time video and intelligent orchestration accessible to all. Join us and shape the next evolution of creative technology! If you are a leading researcher excited by real-time video and agentic platforms, we want to hear from you.