Qualcomm

Learned a lot! The team has a strong ML background – very smart and intelligent people. Everyone was absurdly nice and relaxed. Pretty good pay, interesting work, a private office, ideas taken seriously and integrated into meetings, food at AZ is good, a free gym pass and parking, housing is provided and great, and cool intern activities.

Got to observe some minor inter-team drama that was exciting.

Attending the company-sponsored meetings was a cool experience.

Teams are segregated. My team comprised mostly of ML/DS guys. There can be tighter integration with chip guys. There could have been a little notification about the project topic so I can prepare before the summer. Qualcomm IP hoarder – hard to publish results.

The group I worked in is composed almost entirely of pure ML/DS guys. There are academic groups that focus on ML + layout design.

I would say try to hire a couple people from those groups rather than just the run-of-the-mill ML students to stay competitive with top performers in AI-driven IC design like Nvidia, Cadence, etc.

Publishing is one way to attract serious talent! Check out the publications at DAC/ICCAD by NVIDIA & Cadence to see examples.