New York · On-site · $220-300k
Plastic Labs
About Plastic Labs
Plastic Labs is an engineering-driven AI lab founded in 2023 that operates at the intersection of machine learning and cognitive science, headquartered in Williamsburg, Brooklyn's Domino Refinery. The company was started by three co-founders whose combined expertise spans hardware, cloud security, machine learning, and cognitive science, and has grown to approximately 11 team members including a core engineering team of four engineers plus the CTO. Originally launched as an AI tutoring company, Plastic Labs pivoted to infrastructure and is now backed by prominent investors including Long Journey Ventures, Mozilla Ventures, Greycroft, and Betaworks, with notable angel investors from Weights & Biases, Arcee AI, and early Facebook engineers. The company is committed to open source AI, user-centric data practices, and a decentralized approach to alignment, and has published research validating its methods.
Open positions · 3
New York · On-site · $190-235k
New York · On-site · $180-215k
Company at a glance
Founders & Leadership
Thomas Howell
Cofounder and CEO, Forum Education; cofounder, Felix Payments; cofounder and advisor, Plastic Labs.
LinkedInLocation
About the Team
Team Distribution
- Engineering46%
- Leadership31%
- Operations & Support15%
- Specialized8%
Where the Team Studied
- 1.University of Pennsylvania
- 2.Harvard University
- 3.Yale University
- 4.Columbia University
- 5.Georgia Institute of Technology
Team Worked At
- Microsoft
- IBM
- Tesla
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Sandia National Laboratories
Team Composition
11 people- Entrepreneurship4 senior4
- Engineering2
- Information Technology2
- Administrative1
- Customer Success and Support1
- Finance1 senior1
Culture & values
Engineering-driven AI lab culture
High-touch, collaborative culture
Five days a week in-person work at Williamsburg office in Domino Refinery, Brooklyn
Flat organizational structure with everyone reporting directly to the CTO
Culture prizes high-agency autodidacts who thrive with broad freedom and significant responsibility
Values intellectual diversity and interdisciplinary curiosity spanning cognitive science, linguistics, neuroscience, and philosophy
Techno-optimistic mindset
Engineers own end-to-end projects
Team builds in the open
Daily teaching and learning among team members
Engineers engage with users in Discord and act as thought partners on product direction
Generalist mindset where everyone wears multiple hats
Life at Plastic Labs
Frequently asked questions
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