Detailed AI / Deep Learning Research Interview Questions at Top Tech Companies

[arenaflamingo]

I’m interested in learning more about the specific types of questions asked during interviews for AI / Deep Learning Research Scientist (or closely related research roles) at major tech companies such as FAANG and similar organizations.

I’ve searched online, but most resources only provide high-level or generic descriptions without concrete examples. I’d really appreciate insights from people who have personally gone through these kinds of interviews.

When sharing your experience, please keep the following in mind:

Please be as specific as possible. Avoid general statements like “basic classifier concepts” or “standard SVM questions.”

Concrete examples are highly encouraged, such as:

Exact theoretical questions

Equations, proofs, or theorems discussed

Follow-up questions probing deeper understanding

Discussion of specific research papers or models

I’m mainly interested in core research-oriented topics, not software engineering or coding interview questions.

Any detailed breakdown of interview topics, question formats, or depth of discussion would be extremely helpful. Thank you!

[amyCC]

We don't have someone in the forums who will be able to provide this insight. You may find more responses in other online forums.

Amy
Science Buddies

[max1987martin]

I’m interested in learning more about the specific types of questions asked during interviews for AI / Deep Learning Research Scientist (or closely related research roles) at major tech companies such as FAANG and similar organizations.

I’ve searched online, but most resources only provide high-level or generic descriptions without concrete examples. I’d really appreciate insights from people who have personally gone through these kinds of interviews.

When sharing your experience, please keep the following in mind:

Please be as specific as possible. Avoid general statements like “basic classifier concepts” or “standard SVM questions.”

Concrete examples are highly encouraged, such as:

Exact theoretical questions

Equations, proofs, or theorems discussed

Follow-up questions probing deeper understanding

Discussion of specific research papers or models

I’m mainly interested in core research-oriented topics, not software engineering or coding interview questions.

Any detailed breakdown of interview topics, question formats, or depth of discussion would be extremely helpful. Thank you!

Hello,

From my experience, research scientist interviews at companies like Google, Meta, or OpenAI feel much closer to a PhD defense on a whiteboard than a typical ML interview.

A few concrete examples of the kind of questions I got:

Derivation-heavy

“Derive the ELBO for a VAE from first principles.”
Follow-up: “Why does the reparameterization trick work, mathematically?”

Optimization intuition → math

“Why does SGD generalize better than full-batch GD?”
Follow-up: “Write the update rule and explain the role of gradient noise.”

Paper-level depth

“Explain attention mathematically.”
Follow-up: “Why scale by √d? What breaks without it?”

[hollyjohnson]

I’m interested in learning more about the specific types of questions asked during interviews for AI / Deep Learning Research Scientist (or closely related research roles) at major tech companies such as FAANG and similar organizations.

I’ve searched online, but most resources only provide high-level or generic descriptions without concrete examples. I’d really appreciate insights from people who have personally gone through these kinds of interviews.

When sharing your experience, please keep the following in mind:

Please be as specific as possible. Avoid general statements like “basic classifier concepts” or “standard SVM questions.”

Concrete examples are highly encouraged, such as:

Exact theoretical questions

Equations, proofs, or theorems discussed

Follow-up questions probing deeper understanding

Discussion of specific research papers or models

I’m mainly interested in core research-oriented topics, not software engineering or coding interview questions.

Any detailed breakdown of interview topics, question formats, or depth of discussion would be extremely helpful. Thank you!

I'm really curious how it's possible to have a common set of questions for all the leading tech companies, whether it's about AI or Deep Learning. They would value differentiation, wouldn't they?

[amyCC]

The original poster asked for examples.
No one has suggested there is a single set of questions.
We recommend using other forums or online resources to supplement your interview preparation.

The Ask an Expert forums are for K-12 students and educators.

Amy
Science Buddies