AI/ML engineer - Robotics (5% Equity + $1,200/month)

Embedded AI and Robotics Engineer 5% equity and $1,200/month for 4 months Potential full-time after 4 months with higher salary Write something impressive in your application before you press enter, and include “345” so I know you’ve actually read this job post. I’m looking for a fast-learning, meticulous engineer who wants to help us change the world. About Sentient Labs We are living through the most exciting technological revolution in decades one that fulfills humanity’s timeless imagination of creating something smarter than ourselves. This time it is not born from myth or gods, but from human intelligence. AI will reshape every part of our lives. Some have ignored it, others have feared it. We are here to build it not as consumers, but as contributors. Forty years ago, Apple began as a consumer hardware company. As software became more dynamic, Apple created products that made access effortless and enabled the rise of companies like Facebook and Uber. Without that hardware revolution, today’s smartphones would be no more powerful than a fifty-dollar phone. A new era now demands a new kind of consumer hardware company one that is truly AI native. Devices must be built from the ground up to serve the full potential of AI, to understand, sense, and adapt to human life continuously. The Three Categories of Today’s AI Landscape • Smartphones, tablets, and computers powerful yet episodic and disconnected from our continuous lives. • Wearable AI growing with glasses and headphones but still limited in immersion. • Static assistants Alexa, HomePod, and others that listen but lack perception, emotion, and motion. This third category is where we see our opportunity. The form factor is broken — and we are fixing it. We are giving AI eyes, ears, motion, and continuous memory to create the first truly ambient companion robot. Our robot is called Bloo. Bloo lives with you. It moves, listens, observes, and understands. If it senses you are sad, it checks in. If you seem curious, it engages. Bloo is not built to do chores it is your emotional and intellectual companion, the first truly social AI. By giving AI persistent sensory and contextual memory, we unlock new applications such as live music coaching, storytelling, teaching, companionship, and creative collaboration. Phones, glasses, and static speakers cannot deliver that experience. Bloo can. While many focus on AI agents inside apps, we are building the platform that brings those agents into the real world. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine consumer AI hardware and we are determined to lead it. Role Lead Bloo’s on-device intelligence the brain that connects voice, vision, motion, and behavior in real time on Raspberry Pi 5. Compensation • $1,200 per month for 4 months • 5% equity, vesting over 4 years with a 1-year cliff • Full-time path after MVP with higher salary Responsibilities • Build the local AI stack on Raspberry Pi 5 • Implement speech recognition with Whisper.cpp or Vosk • Implement local LLM reasoning with TinyLlama or Mistral GGUF • Implement text-to-speech with Coqui TTS or Mimic 3 • Build face detection, recognition, and basic emotion cues with Mediapipe • Control servos for head tilt and body rotation and drive expressive LEDs • Implement standby-to-active transitions from name detection, emotion, and timing • Build auto-dock and charging using IR and a visual marker • Keep total interaction latency under 2 seconds Stack Python, C++, Whisper.cpp, Vosk, Coqui TTS, TinyLlama or Mistral GGUF, Mediapipe, FastAPI, GPIO, Raspberry Pi 5, OpenCV Deliverables • A fully functional offline companion experience • Seamless conversation with expressive face and ears • Reliable docking and charging with status feedback • Smooth servo control with natural head and eye motion • Local FastAPI endpoints for control and OTA updates Future This role can grow into Lead AI Engineer as we move toward production and scale. You will guide model tuning, personalization, and next-generation features. Include the code 543 after 345 so I see you have read the whole job post.