Most AI labs grill you on one past project. Most big tech loops don't.

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12 of 23 AI labs, OpenAI and Anthropic among them, have a round on one project you built, against 3 of 7 big tech companies. What it grades, how long it runs, and how to prepare.

• 12 of 23 AI labs have a round on one project you built, including Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI and Google DeepMind.
• Most big tech loops don’t: 3 of 7 big tech companies have one, and 2 of 7 scaled startups.
• 10 of the 12 grade depth under follow-ups: how many layers of “why” your answers survive.
• What you personally owned (5) and decisions and tradeoffs (5) come next.
• 60 minutes is the usual length (6 of the 8 with a known length).
• 6 ask you to present, often with slides; the rest are conversations.

Most AI labs grill you on one past project; most big tech doesn’t

Loops with a round about a project you built, by kind of company.

10 of 12 AI lab deep dives grade depth under follow-ups

Each deep dive round and what it grades, from its description. The round goes by many names: project presentation, experience deep dive, project walkthrough, take-home review. Microsoft AI doesn't describe what it grades.

The same, by theme. A round can grade more than one thing.

Plan for 60 minutes on one project

Deep dives by length, where it is known. 6 of 12 ask you to present first (Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI, Google DeepMind, Cursor and Applied Intuition); the rest start as a conversation.

What candidates report about the round

What this means for your prep

1. Pick one project you owned end to end. 10 of 12 rounds grade depth under follow-ups, so choose the one you know deepest.
2. Know every decision and the option you turned down. At OpenAI, expect “why not the alternative?” and “what happens at ten times the scale?” for every project.
3. Say what you did, not what the team did. 5 of 12 rounds grade what you personally owned.
4. Have a presentation ready for Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceXAI: about 20 minutes at Anthropic; at OpenAI, bring backup detail beyond the slides.
5. Keep the story the same in every round. At Decagon, details must stay consistent across interviews.

   Methodology

   The loops of 37 tech companies, round by round, from candidate reports and public guides, checked in October 2026: 23 AI labs (frontier labs and AI-native companies), 7 big tech companies and 7 scaled startups. 12 of the AI labs include a round about a project you built. Grade themes come from keyword rules over each round’s description; lengths are counted where known (8 of 12).

   Limits: the round varies by team and level; at some companies it is reported for many roles, not all.

   How we made this: Land the Lab sorted each round’s description. The charts are generated from that data; the text was drafted with AI and checked against it.

Originally published at landthelab.com, where every company's interview loop is mapped round by round.