Machine Learning PhD Internship

Locations: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Role ID

210871

Worker Type

Intern - Temporary Employee

Studio/Department

CT - Creative Innovation

Work Model

Hybrid

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

SEED is a pioneering group within Electronic Arts that combines creativity with applied research. We explore, build, and help define the future of interactive entertainment.

We exist at EA to deliver and foster inspiring innovation for our games and our players. We do this through exploration, research, prototypes, and never-ending curiosity. We collaborate with game teams and industry partners and also publish our research within our industry and to the public. We pursue long-term applied research while staying relevant to the present by delivering artifacts along the way to game teams and technology groups inside EA. Some of our research includes bringing digital characters to life, using machine learning for game AI and content creation, and developing novel real-time graphics & physics techniques.

The challenge

Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown great promise when applied to various tasks in games, including game summaries, dialogue, and even gameplay. In the competition for hardware resources, games have been optimized for performance, and every computational resource is crucial. The challenge is to create Small Language Models (SLMs) that are as performant on the task at hand while being reduced in size to run concurrently with the game without affecting game performance.

We are seeking a highly motivated and driven PhD Intern in the area of LMs and games. We expect the intern to apply the latest state-of-the-art research to create small LMs that are suitable for real-time gameplay. This can include dialogue, decision-making making and planning for our NPCs in our games. Within this work, there are plenty of opportunities to consider how to evaluate models for games, integrate them with existing systems (such as game engines and games), and create a believable and authentic experience for our players. We expect, and encourage, the student to be willing to work with a game engine if that is necessary to complete the task.

As a PhD Intern, you will:

• Perform a state-of-the-art study on LMs, games, and the applications of LMs on games
• Test and evaluate recent papers and open-source projects
• Identify and define some novel approaches and methods
• Plan and build a proof-of-concept demonstration
• Create and execute a full experiment suite to verify and benchmark results
• Analyze and evaluate the results and write a technical report, and share insights by giving presentations to the team

As a diverse team with solid goals, we provide autonomy and true influence to each member of SEED. We are looking for an open and curious person who gets a kick out of taking new ideas, investigating them, and adapting their application to games. You have a desire to explore new areas of game development—someone who is passionate, creative, communicative, and invested.

Qualifications

• Ongoing Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Graphics, Machine Learning, or any other relevant field
• Experience in LLMs training and modeling, distillation, and RAG-based techniques.
• Basic knowledge of principles for game programming
• You care about video games as a medium.

If you want to be part of—and work with—some of the most incredible people in the field, then SEED is your team

To learn more about SEED and our impactful work, check out

You must be available for a full-time paid internship in the summer of 2026.

At this time, we are considering PhD students who will be enrolled in an accredited degree program in the summer of 2026, slated to graduate no earlier than December 2026. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in Canada on a full-time basis during the 8 month internship. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Please ensure that your graduation date is visible on your resume.

About Electronic Arts

We're proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.

We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.