--- title: 'AI Researcher (Multimodal Audio/Video Generation) at Tavus' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/ai-researcher-multimodal-audio-video-generation-tavus-san-francisco-rebzx76z9c96' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-10' --- # AI Researcher (Multimodal Audio/Video Generation) at Tavus - **Company:** Tavus - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-05-15 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tavus/09972bf5-780d-4209-a758-d4ad32c012e0 ## Job description ## About Us [Tavus](https://www.tavus.io/) is a research lab pioneering human computing. We’re building AI Humans: a new interface that closes the gap between people and machines, free from the friction of today’s systems. Our real-time human simulation models let machines see, hear, respond, and even look real—enabling meaningful, face-to-face conversations. AI Humans combine the emotional intelligence of humans with the reach and reliability of machines, making them capable, trusted agents available 24/7, in every language, on our terms. Imagine a therapist anyone can afford. A personal trainer that adapts to your schedule. A fleet of medical assistants that can give every patient the attention they need. With Tavus, individuals, enterprises, and developers can all build AI Humans to connect, understand, and act with empathy at scale. We’re a Series A company backed by world-class investors including Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, and Scale Venture Partners. Be part of shaping a future where humans and machines truly understand each other. ## The Role We’re hiring a Senior AI Researcher to lead research in audio-visual avatar generation. This role is for someone who thrives in ambiguity, has a track record of pushing generative models to new frontiers, and wants to define what human–AI interaction looks like in practice. ## Your Mission 🚀 - Lead research efforts on audio-visual generation for avatars (Neural Avatars, Talking-Heads), with a focus on conversational settings. - Design models that are coupled with conversation flow — capturing and generating verbal + non-verbal signals in sync. - Drive innovation in diffusion models, long-video generation, and audio-visual modeling. - Translate research into production by partnering with Applied ML and engineering. - Mentor researchers, set research directions, and publish impactful work. You’ll Bring: - A PhD or equivalent research experience, plus 2–3+ years of hands-on experience applying generative models at scale. - Expertise in diffusion models and awareness of the latest efficiency techniques. - Experience in multimodal generation — spanning video, audio, and language. - Proven innovation in long-video generation and/or audio generation. - Excellent programming skills — fluent in PyTorch and GPU-optimized workflows. - Track record of publications in top-tier venues (CVPR, NeurIPS, BMVC, ICASSP, etc.). - Experience leading research activities or mentoring teams. Nice-to-Haves: - Skills in 3D graphics, Gaussian splatting, or large-scale training setups. - Broad exposure to generative AI models beyond your specialty. - Familiarity with software development best practices. Location: Preferred: San Francisco (hybrid) or London. Remote within U.S. or Europe considered for exceptional candidates. ## About Tavus ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Tavus is an AI research lab and platform pioneering "Human Computing," building models and APIs that enable AI to see, hear, understand, and respond with lifelike realism in real-time. - **Entity Type**: Private (Venture-backed) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, CA, United States - **Founded**: 2021 - **Founders**: Hassaan Raza & Quinn Favret ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Artificial Intelligence / Human Computing / Multi-modal AI - **Target customers**: B2B; Product teams and developers (via API and no-code builder), enterprise teams (for onboarding, training, support), and prosumers/individuals (for tutors, companions, assistants). - **Mission**: "To make human-AI interaction as natural as face-to-face interaction, enabling the human touch where it has been previously unscalable." [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tavus) ## Products & Services - **Conversational Video Interface (CVI)**: An API-first platform that allows developers to embed real-time, face-to-face conversational AI into any product. It enables emotionally intelligent, adaptive interactions with sub-second latency. - **Tavus Platform (No-Code SaaS)**: A no-code builder that lets individuals and enterprises create custom AI humans for use in onboarding, training, customer engagement, or personal use by customizing personality, knowledge, and appearance. - **Replica API**: Tools for creating personal or stock digital twins (replicas) with studio-grade fidelity, full-face rendering, and identity preservation. Supports both individual and large-scale deployment. - **Personas**: A system for defining custom personalities and context to tailor the behavior of AI humans. - **Core AI Models**: - **Sparrow (Conversational Flow Model)**: Delivers low-latency, accurate turn-taking by analyzing lexical, semantic, prosodic, and acoustic cues. - **Raven (Perception Model)**: A multi-modal perception engine that translates facial expressions, tone, gaze, and emotion into conversational signals. - **Phoenix (Rendering Model)**: A gaussian-diffusion based model for high-fidelity, photorealistic facial rendering with contextually accurate emotions and expressions in real time. [tavus.io](https://www.tavus.io/) ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Key Metric**: **Total Funding**: $40M+ (including a $18M raise in 2024 and a subsequent Series B for $40M in 2025). [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tavus), [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator (Summer 2021 batch), HubSpot. [tavus.io](https://www.tavus.io/lp/ai-info-page) - **Growth Signals**: - Demonstrated product-market fit with case studies for clients like Final Round AI (1.2M practice minutes logged), ACTO (life sciences training), and CareFlick (senior companionship). - Raising significant venture capital over multiple rounds, indicating strong investor confidence and a long runway for R&D. ## Competitive Advantages - **Real-time realism**: Overcomes the "uncanny valley" with sub-second latency and photorealistic rendering, a key differentiator from asynchronous video-generation and static avatar companies. - **Comprehensive AI Human Stack**: Offers a full operating system (perception, memory, knowledge, action) rather than just a single component like an avatar. - **Flexibility**: Provides multiple integration paths—a modular API, a bring-your-own-LLM option, and a no-code builder—making it accessible to both technical and non-technical users. - **Ethical foundation**: Built with a stated commitment to privacy, consent, and empathy, and aims for transparency in disclosure (e.g., SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance). ## Strategic Focus - **Category Creation**: Actively establishing "Human Computing" as a new industry standard for human-AI interaction, moving beyond simple chatbots and scripted avatars. - **Developer Ecosystem**: Centered on an API-first strategy to become the platform of choice for developers building the next generation of AI assistants, companions, and employees. - **Real-time & Multi-modal**: Continuing to push the boundaries of multi-modal AI (video, audio, text, emotion) to create more intuitive and authentic interactions. - **Enterprise & Prosumer Scale**: Growing the no-code platform to serve both enterprise-scale training/support and personal use cases (tutoring, wellness, companionship). ## Why Work Here - **Cutting-edge Research & Impact**: A chance to work on frontier multi-modal AI models (perception, rendering, conversation) that directly shape how humans interact with machines. - **Culture**: Described as a tight-knit, high-output team with semi-annual full-team retreats and a focus on continuous learning alongside AI leaders. [tavus.io](https://www.tavus.io/careers) - **Compensation & Benefits**: Offers competitive salary, meaningful equity, fully covered medical, dental, and vision for employees and their families, unlimited PTO, and a gear stipend for setting up the workspace. [tavus.io](https://www.tavus.io/careers) - **Work Environment**: "Our team moves mountains to bring the vision to life, and we’ve got their backs." The company appears to embrace a hybrid/office culture in San Francisco (SOMA) with remote options for some roles (e.g., Senior Software Engineer). [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tavus) - **Team Growth**: Team size reported as around 40 members. Currently hiring for roles like AI Researcher (Perception), Customer Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, and Solution Engineer. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tavus), [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tavus) ## Sources 1. [tavus.io](https://www.tavus.io/) 2. [tavus.io/careers](https://www.tavus.io/careers) 3. [tavus.io/lp/ai-info-page](https://www.tavus.io/lp/ai-info-page) 4. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tavus) 5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tavus) 6. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com) ## Other roles at Tavus - [Senior Software Engineer (CVI)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-cvi-tavus-san-francisco-0xy8c3dnhxe0) — San Francisco, CA - [Vibe Growth Marketer](https://feeny.ai/job/vibe-growth-marketer-tavus-san-francisco-ynha49h58qg6) — San Francisco, CA - [Business Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-representative-tavus-san-francisco-vaebfha9r4ex) — San Francisco, CA - [Product Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/product-designer-tavus-san-francisco-813z9bn38tfr) — San Francisco, CA - [Brand & Product Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/brand-product-designer-tavus-san-francisco-8ph3kwhaykea) — San Francisco, CA - [Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-tavus-san-francisco-w8gfpeca4wqe) — San Francisco, CA - [Enterprise Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-account-executive-tavus-san-francisco-eh3s3n051tk8) — San Francisco, CA - [Marketer (Brand, Product, Storytelling)](https://feeny.ai/job/marketer-brand-product-storytelling-tavus-san-francisco-3avcsehy2hny) — San Francisco, CA - [Conversational Modelling Research Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/conversational-modelling-research-engineer-tavus-remote-rhfhte0fhg6v) - [Software Engineer, Infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-infrastructure-tavus-2294fqzd0wmy)