Reality Defender

Role Description This 3-month internship is designed for current PhD students and candidates to partner with Reality Defender's AI team to generate cutting-edge research and publish peer-reviewed papers. Your primary collaborator will be Jacob Seidman, who will guide and advise your efforts within deepfake image and video detection. This internship can be performed remotely, although you're welcome to work from our HQ in New York City. What you'll do - Investigate new methods for generative image/video detection. - Collaborate with researchers in the team. - Perform research of deepfake image/video detection. - Write up results of research for internal reports and submission to academic journals/workshops. - Independently implement and evaluate ideas on modern deep learning stack - Python, PyTorch, and GPU-enabled cloud compute, like AWS/GCP. Qualifications - PhD student in a relevant technical field. - Experience in computer vision. - Proficient in Python and in building deep learning models with PyTorch. - Published peer-reviewed research papers in reputable computer vision venues, e.g. CVPR, ICCV, NeurIPS. - Excited about Reality Defender's mission to build a best-in-class and comprehensive deepfake and AI-generated media detection platform. - Available to start a research project in Summer of 2026.

Who we are. Reality Defender is an award-winning cybersecurity company helping enterprises and governments detect deepfakes and AI-generated media. Utilizing a patented multi-model approach, Reality Defender is robust against the bleeding edge of generative platforms producing video, audio, imagery, and text media. Reality Defender's API-first deepfake detection platform empowers teams and developers alike to identify fraud, disinformation campaigns, and harmful deepfakes in real time. Backed by world class investors including DCVC, Illuminate Financial, Y Combinator, Booz Allen Hamilton, IBM, Accenture, Rackhouse, and Argon VC, Reality Defender works with leading enterprise clients, financial institutions, and governments in order to ensure AI-generated media is not used for malicious purposes. Youtube: Reality Defender Wins RSA Most Innovative Startup The Applied Scientist II (Audio) Role. We are seeking an Applied Scientist II to build, tune, and deploy state-of-the-art audio deepfake detection models in real-world client environments. You will be responsible primarily for model tuning and deployment, ensuring robustness, reliability, and performance under diverse real-world test conditions — including adversarial and edge-case scenarios. The role requires deep hands-on expertise in model building, training, and benchmarking. What you’ll do - Tune and optimize ML/DL models for production-scale audio deepfake detection. - Investigate failure cases in the client environment, build custom evaluation frameworks, and implement mitigation strategies for model robustness. - Drive model iteration for performance under a variety of real-world environments, e.g. compression artifacts, noise, telephony, and streaming pipelines. - Present technical findings and model performance insights to internal stakeholders. - Interface with Product and Engineering teams to build a deep understanding of the production environment and incorporate relevant evaluations for performance assessment. Who you are. - Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Signal Processing, or related field. - Fresh PhD graduate, or Masters with 3+ years of industry experience building and deploying ML/DL models for AI products. - Strong programming skills in Python and model ML frameworks (PyTorch, JAX). - Solid understanding of audio processing fundamentals, classification and detection metrics (ROC, DET curves, precision/recall trade-offs), model robustness and evaluation. - Experience with large-scale training and benchmarking pipelines, either in an academic or an industry research role. What we offer. Reality Defender offers the following benefits to all our employees, regardless of location: - Healthcare plans with 100% premium coverage for employees and partial coverage available for dependents - Dental and Vision plans with 100% premium coverage for employees and their dependents - Short/Long-term disability and life insurance plans with 100% premium coverage for employees - FSA/HSA and 401k programs - Equity compensation - 20 days of PTO per year - 12 weeks of Parental Leave - Learning and Development budget - Monthly wellness benefits - Annual company-sponsored offsite For employees working from Reality Defender’s HQ in NYC, we offer the following benefits: - Daily in-office lunch through UberEats - Commuter benefits - Remote Fridays - Happy Hours and other local events

Who we are. Reality Defender is an award-winning cybersecurity company helping enterprises and governments detect deepfakes and AI-generated media. Utilizing a patented multi-model approach, Reality Defender is robust against the bleeding edge of generative platforms producing video, audio, imagery, and text media. Reality Defender's API-first deepfake detection platform empowers teams and developers alike to identify fraud, disinformation campaigns, and harmful deepfakes in real time. Backed by world class investors including DCVC, Illuminate Financial, Y Combinator, Booz Allen Hamilton, IBM, Accenture, Rackhouse, and Argon VC, Reality Defender works with leading enterprise clients, financial institutions, and governments in order to ensure AI-generated media is not used for malicious purposes. Youtube: Reality Defender Wins RSA Most Innovative Startup The Senior Applied AI Engineer (Audio) Role. We are seeking a Senior Applied AI Engineer to build, tune, and deploy state-of-the-art audio deepfake detection models in real-world client environments. This is a highly cross-functional client-facing role requiring close collaboration with Research, Production Engineering, and Customer Success teams. You will be responsible not just for model development, but for ensuring robustness, reliability, and performance under diverse real-world test conditions — including adversarial and edge-case scenarios. This role requires deep hands-on expertise in model building, training, benchmarking, and productionization — along with the ability to translate complex model behavior into actionable insights for both technical and non-technical stakeholders. What you'll do. - Design, build, and optimize ML/DL models for production-scale audio deepfake detection. - Interface with clients to build a deep understanding of the production environment and scope out model performance criteria. - Investigate failure cases in the client environment, build custom evaluation frameworks, and implement mitigation strategies that span across Engineering and AI. - Drive model tuning and iteration for performance under a variety of real-world environments, e.g. compression artifacts, noise, telephony, and streaming pipelines. - Design and execute structured experimentation roadmaps, centered around client requirements, anticipated future attack vectors, and proactive system resilience. - Collaborate with cross-functional partners (Applied Scientists, Deployment Engineers, Product teams) to deploy robust and scalable models. - Present technical findings and model performance insights to clients as well as internal stakeholders. Who you are. - Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Signal Processing, or related field (or equivalent industry experience). - 2+ years of industry experience building and deploying ML/DL models for AI products. - Strong programming skills in Python and model ML frameworks (PyTorch, JAX). - Solid understanding of audio processing fundamentals, classification and detection metrics (ROC, DET curves, precision/recall trade-offs), model robustness and evaluation. - Proven experience with large-scale training and benchmarking pipelines - Prior experience in a client-facing or solutions-oriented AI role is a plus. What we offer. Reality Defender offers the following benefits to all our employees, regardless of location: - Healthcare plans with 100% premium coverage for employees and partial coverage available for dependents - Dental and Vision plans with 100% premium coverage for employees and their dependents - Short/Long-term disability and life insurance plans with 100% premium coverage for employees - FSA/HSA and 401k programs - Equity compensation - 20 days of PTO per year - 12 weeks of Parental Leave - Learning and Development budget - Monthly wellness benefits - Annual company-sponsored offsite For employees working from Reality Defender’s HQ in NYC, we offer the following benefits: - Daily in-office lunch through UberEats - Commuter benefits - Remote Fridays - Happy Hours and other local events