What Is TALON?

TALON (Technology Accelerator Lab for Operational Needs) is where Tyto Athene builds AI that actually works in the field—not just in a notebook. We deploy AI systems for the DoD and federal agencies under real constraints: limited bandwidth, edge hardware, contested environments. Our stack includes NVIDIA DGX GB10 systems, serverless GPU compute, software-defined radios, drone platforms, and frontier open-weight models.

The Role

We’re hiring a small cohort of interns who think in models and systems, not just API calls. You’ll work directly on real TALON projects—edge AI, sensor fusion, autonomous systems, cyber ops—alongside senior engineers. Real customers, real deadlines. You’ll ship, not shadow.

What You Might Work On

• Fine-tuning small models for on-device inference in bandwidth-limited environments
• Building agentic workflows for SOC triage and network analysis
• Prototyping multi-modal sensor fusion (RF, imagery, telemetry)
• Optimizing and quantizing models for edge hardware
• Integrating LLMs into operational prototypes with real latency and memory constraints
• Setting up MLOps: experiment tracking, model versioning, eval harnesses

Who You Are

• Pursuing a degree in CS, CE, EE, or similar—and you like building systems, not just training models
• You’ve built something real with an LLM, CV pipeline, or embedded ML—and can talk about what broke
• Comfortable in Python and understand what happens under the hood
• You know why transformers work, not just how to use them
• US. citizen, able to obtain a DoD security clearance

Bonus Points

• Quantization, pruning, or model optimization experience
• Hands-on with open-source LLMs or fine-tuning tools (Unsloth, Axolotl, etc.)
• RAG pipelines, tool-use agents, or agentic frameworks
• Docker/Kubernetes or serverless GPU platforms
• ETL/ELT pipelines using Python or SQL
• RF or signal processing background
• Exposure to DoD or government environments

What You Get

• Mentorship from senior engineers building production AI for national security
• Access to serious hardware—and the freedom to use it
• Real deployment experience under real constraints (power, bandwidth, latency, security)

Compensation:

• Compensation is unique to each candidate and relative to the skills and experience they bring to the position. The salary range for this position is typically between $30-$40/HR This does not guarantee a specific salary as compensation is based upon multiple factors such as education, experience, certifications, and other requirements, and may fall outside of the above-stated range.