--- title: 'Silicon Intern - Physical Design & DFT (USA) at Tenstorrent University Jobs' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/silicon-intern-physical-design-dft-usa-tenstorrent-university-jobs-austin-vmadat4d15xy' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-16' --- # Silicon Intern - Physical Design & DFT (USA) at Tenstorrent University Jobs - **Company:** Tenstorrent University Jobs - **Location:** Austin, TX / Boston, MA / Fort Collins, CO / Santa Clara, CA - **Posted:** 2026-10-07 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-16 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/tenstorrentuniversity/jobs/5256706007 ## Job description Tenstorrent is leading the industry on cutting-edge AI technology, revolutionizing performance expectations, ease of use, and cost efficiency. With AI redefining the computing paradigm, solutions must evolve to unify innovations in software models, compilers, platforms, networking, and semiconductors. Our diverse team of technologists have developed a high performance RISC-V CPU from scratch, and share a passion for AI and a deep desire to build the best AI platform possible. We value collaboration, curiosity, and a commitment to solving hard problems. We are growing our team and looking for contributors of all seniorities. Overview: This is where verified RTL becomes an actual, manufacturable chip. Every timing constraint, every power tradeoff, every Design For Test (DFT) decision here determines whether the silicon works when it comes back from the fab. What you might work on: This posting spans multiple teams within Physical Design and DFT. One application, one recruiter screen — then we match you to the specific team and location that fits best. Team include: - Physical Design: Synthesis, floorplanning, place & route, clocking, timing closure. - Advanced Physical Design: ML-assisted approaches to physical design flows. - DFT: Design hardware to enable structural post-silicon test. JTAG, Scan/ATPG, MBIST. This role is on-site, based out of Austin, TX or Boston, MA or Fort Collins, CO or Santa Clara, CA. ## Who You Are - Currently pursuing a BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical or Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering. - Solid understanding of logic design, VLSI, and transistor-level concepts. - Familiarity with PnR tools, timing analysis, and power optimization techniques. - Familiarity with JTAG, MBIST, and scan concepts. - Comfortable scripting in Tcl, Perl, Shell, or Python. ## What We Need - Hands-on experience with a commercial PnR toolchain (Synopsys, Cadence). - Coursework or projects in DFT, test methodology, VLSI or digital design, computer architecture. - Interest or exposure with AI tools to accelerate development and workflows. ## What You Will Learn - The physical design flow, from RTL handoff to final tapeout. - Timing, power, EM/IR, and area tradeoffs at the chip level. - Industry-standard EDA tools and flows used in modern chip development. - Gain hands-on experience in Design-for-Testability (DFT) to enable efficient testing. USA Hiring Timelines This internship opportunity is available throughout our 3 terms with the following corresponding recruitment cycles: - Winter Term: Jan–Apr work term, Sept–Dec recruit. - Summer Term: May–Aug work term, Oct–Apr recruit. - Fall Term: Sept–Dec work term, Jan–Aug recruit. Please note these timelines are for reference only. Actual timelines may vary. Compensation for all interns at Tenstorrent ranges from $50/hr - $70/hr including base and variable compensation targets. Experience, skills, education, background and location all impact the actual offer made. Tenstorrent offers a highly competitive compensation package and benefits, and we are an equal opportunity employer. This offer of employment is contingent upon the applicant being eligible to access U.S. export-controlled technology. Due to U.S. export laws, including those codified in the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Company is required to ensure compliance with these laws when transferring technology to nationals of certain countries (such as EAR Country Groups D:1, E1, and E2). These requirements apply to persons located in the U.S. and all countries outside the U.S. As the position offered will have direct and/or indirect access to information, systems, or technologies subject to these laws, the offer may be contingent upon your citizenship/permanent residency status or ability to obtain prior license approval from the U.S. Commerce Department or applicable federal agency. If employment is not possible due to U.S. export laws, any offer of employment will be rescinded. ## About Tenstorrent University Jobs ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Tenstorrent designs high‑performance RISC‑V CPUs and tensor‑based AI processors, and develops open‑source software to unlock the next wave of AI innovation. - **Entity Type**: Private (funding stage not disclosed in provided sources) - **Headquarters**: Multiple locations, including Santa Clara, California, USA and Toronto, Ontario, Canada; additional offices in Austin, Boston, Fort Collins, Belgrade, Warsaw, Bengaluru, Beijing, Pangyo, and Tokyo. - **Founded**: Not specified in provided sources - **Founders**: Not specified in provided sources ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Semiconductor design / AI hardware accelerators / RISC‑V CPU architecture - **Target customers**: B2B – hyperscalers, AI research labs, enterprises deploying AI inference and training workloads, and OEMs looking for alternative AI compute platforms - **Mission/purpose statement**: “We build RISC‑V CPUs, Tensor AI processors, and open‑source software to unlock the next innovations in AI.” (from [tenstorrent.com](https://tenstorrent.com/en/university)) ## Products & Services - **RISC‑V CPUs**: High‑performance, custom CPU cores designed from scratch for modern AI and general‑purpose workloads. - **Tensor AI Processors**: Accelerators that combine tensor compute with a novel data‑flow architecture to deliver orders‑of‑magnitude performance and efficiency improvements for machine learning. - **Open‑Source Software Stack**: Includes the **TT‑Metal** runtime, an **AI compiler**, **scale‑out fabric** software, and integrations with leading ML frameworks (PyTorch, etc.). All software is developed openly to enable transparency, modifiability, and community contributions. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available in provided sources - **Key Metric**: Not disclosed; however, the company is actively hiring interns and new grads across hardware, software, and operations teams in more than ten global offices, signaling strong growth. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not specified in provided sources - **Growth Signals**: Hosts a dedicated university recruiting portal with 36 open intern/new‑grad roles (as of inspection); compensates interns at $50–$70/hour; expanding office footprint to Europe and Asia. ## Competitive Advantages - **Custom RISC‑V CPU**: Developed a high‑performance RISC‑V core entirely in‑house, differentiating from Arm or x86‑dependent competitors. - **Hardware‑Software Co‑Design**: The team includes architecture, silicon, firmware, compiler, and runtime engineers working together, enabling tightly integrated AI solutions. - **Open‑Source Commitment**: All software is open and modifiable, reducing vendor lock‑in and attracting developer‑first organizations. - **First‑Principles Culture**: Hiring emphasis on “first principle thinkers” and “flexible thinkers” who challenge existing paradigms. ## Strategic Focus - Continue building an **open AI hardware platform** that is affordable, transparent, and modifiable. - Invest in **RISC‑V ecosystem** and **open‑source tooling** to lower barriers for AI adoption. - Expand global engineering presence (new offices in Europe and Asia) and grow the university pipeline to feed future talent. - Advance **chiplet‑based design** and **scale‑out architectures** to address both inference and training at large scale. ## Why Work Here - **Cutting‑Edge Technology**: Work on bleeding‑edge AI silicon, RISC‑V CPUs, and compiler infrastructure from the ground up. - **Mentorship & Rotation**: Interns receive dedicated mentors and can move across digital design, verification, firmware, software, and systems engineering teams. - **Compensation**: Interns are paid $50–$70/hour (including variable compensation), which is highly competitive for the industry. - **Locations**: Hybrid roles available in Austin, Boston, Santa Clara, Toronto, Belgrade, and Bengaluru, with many teams offering flexible work modes. - **Culture**: Emphasizes curiosity, collaboration, and a commitment to solving hard problems; described as “open” and “first‑principles.” - **Career Acceleration**: Opportunity to work on full‑stack projects from architecture to production deployment, with exposure to the entire AI compute pipeline. ## Sources 1. [tenstorrent.com (University page)](https://tenstorrent.com/en/university) 2. [tenstorrent.com (Careers / University)](https://tenstorrent.com/en/careers/university) 3. [Greenhouse – Tenstorrent University Jobs](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/tenstorrentuniversity) 4. [Greenhouse – Software Intern AI Compilers](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/tenstorrentuniversity/jobs/4968219007) 5. 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