@NEPatsGirl congratulations to your daughter and you! We both have high school class of 15 girls! Fun to hear a next step for one.
Three points. First, while PhD types may lead the teams, there are are many masters and undergrads involved in ML/AI development. Once hired, upward career trajectories will be defined by capabilities. What most companies are looking for is experience in building and training ML applications and many CS programs fall short in offering the classes and research opportunities for a student to get that experience. Many other schools offer ML/AI tracks or, in the the case of CMU, a BS in AI.
Second, many students find it difficult to get involved in ML/AL research where they can get published as an undergrad. This may be due to students not seeking out the opportunity or schools not encouraging undergrads on research teams. While undergrads may not be the PI on a research team, they can make significant contributions and appear as an author on the research.
Finally, on internships. There are many ML/AI summer internships internships out there. I think internships are very important, but I do believe that school and geography play into what’s available. Students need to be aware that, like you noted, if you apply to a catch-all job posting, the most interesting jobs will most likely go to students with the best credentials (what else do the employers have to go on?). However, there are many job postings for a single role even in ML/AI. Even better is getting a referral from a prof.
I know of several undergrad students that have been very successful along these three points. Opportunities at school play a big part, but so does desire. If the OPs daughter has an opportunity to get the exposure she wants, I’m sure she will go far.
My FDIL is now at Google Seattle (was at MV). LOVES it. Seattle is getting quite expensive – be sure to look carefully at rents vs. commute distance.
S1 interviews candidates often and says that they look at your thought process more than coding (though you must still have coding chops). His employer chooses candidates and then departments get to choose who’d they like. There’s not as much choice about what you start doing as one may like. However, people do tend to get good matches and there are opportunities to move to other departments.
S is one of those folks who was a math major in order to have better programming tools. He works in language development, has been there six years (!) and has no desire to leave. Is challenged every day, loves the folks he works with, and is heavily involved in recuiting women engineers.
Congrats to your daughter, OP! I live in the Seattle area and I work at Microsoft. I absolutely love it 
Yes, Seattle is pretty expensive, but frankly I think it’s kind of worth it. Every time I think about moving somewhere else I have a visceral reaction to being elsewhere, and I’m not even from the West Coast.
Also, as a side note, it’s pretty common for new grad software developers to spend 1-2 years somewhere and then move. So even if she knows insurance is not her place long-term, she has access to the rest of the Seattle tech industry (and honestly, the Bay Area one too - SF is a quick, cheap flight, and there’s lots of exchange between the areas).
Encourage her to join one of the bazillion networking groups for young people in tech here and start making some connections so she can plan a jump, if she wants. Seattle Girl Geek Dinners are a good one; AnitaB.org (the organization that runs the Grace Hopper Celebration) has a Seattle chapter that has events; another good one is HERE Seattle (a group that fosters diversity in Seattle - but true diversity; the meetups are a mix of people of all races and backgrounds).
Congrats to your D on the job and the award! Hard to believe she’s graduating. I remember you posting when she was applying. All the best to her
Thank you everyone for your good wishes.
@juillet I forwarded her the names you mentioned, she was very excited about it !