Pros
Generous bonuses at the start of every year. Pay for researchers is better than average, I would say. Smallness of the company means that your talent and hard work are usually noticed and eventually rewarded. CEO is approachable and seems genuinely invested in the research everyone is doing. He also seems to be taking steps to ensure that the organization does more to recruit a diverse slate of researchers, which is encouraging. Fairly generous funding available for research tools, conferences, professional memberships, and tuition reimbursement (up to $7500 a year for full time employees). A remarkably friendly and in many cases renowned group of AI professionals to work with. If you want to work with some of the best, you can do it here.
Cons
Location is crowded and kind of remote, so commuting can be difficult. Unclear why we are not in a more spacious building with nearby bus lines, other than the fact that the CEO likes our building. There does not seem to be much concern with what employees think of the location, other than pep talks about how we are going to fix the space constraints but not leave. There is so much turnover in the administrative staff (HR and facilities especially) that it can be hard to figure out who to go to for support or questions. Hiring or retention process for AO staff seems to need improvement. Paid time off is better than Amazon (12 days to start for full time employees, plus 4 floating holidays and 10 days sick time), but otherwise not that competitive with other AI companies. Very few women in the company, and almost none working as managers. Discouraging for those of us who like a more diverse workplace. The CEO seemingly has to approve every hiring decision, which only adds to a pretty inefficient recruitment process.