AI Perception Intern (PICO) - 2027 Start (PhD)

ByteDance; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 63,000 - 89,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing allowance

Job summary

Pico is a VR company founded in 2015, focused on immersive experiences for education and healthcare. This internship contributes to the perception pipeline for low-power camera/sensing systems on wearable devices, working with an engineer/researcher.

You will tackle data prep, model training, quantization and edge deployment, building test platforms, and collaborating within a multidisciplinary team to advance camera and sensing technology in real-world contexts.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a PhD (or exceptional undergraduate) in EE, ECE, CS, Physics, or a related technical discipline.
• Solid programming in Python and/or C/C++; PyTorch or equivalent.
• Hands-on experience in at least one of: computer vision / ML, embedded/edge systems, or camera/image-sensor/imaging pipelines — with genuine exposure to cameras, images, or visual perception (adjacent-only modalities such as MRI/ultrasound/biosignals do not count).
• Able to execute a scoped project with guidance in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary team; good communication.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to power- and compute-efficient machine vision perception pipelines: data preparation, model training, quantization/optimization, and edge deployment.
• Help build and run test platforms and benchmarks for camera/perception performance (latency, power, accuracy).
• Support camera/sensor experiments: ISP-to-perception data flows, capture, calibration, and evaluation.
• Prototype and iterate on scoped components with guidance.

Skills

Python

C/C++

PyTorch

Computer vision

Embedded systems

Communication

Education

PhD candidate in EE/ECE/CS/Physics

Exceptional undergraduate

Tools

PyTorch

Job description

Responsibilities

About Team

We build cameras for AI perception, not for human eyes. This internship contributes to the perception pipeline — data, models, deployment, and test — for low-power camera/sensing systems on wearable devices, working alongside a engineer/researcher.

We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship. PhD internships at Our Company provide students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, as well as to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies.

Our dynamic internship experience blends hands‑on learning, enriching community‑building and professional development events, and collaboration with industry experts.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to power- and compute-efficient machine vision perception pipelines: data preparation, model training, quantization/optimization, and edge deployment.
• Help build and run test platforms and benchmarks for camera/perception performance (latency, power, accuracy).
• Support camera/sensor experiments: ISP-to-perception data flows, capture, calibration, and evaluation.
• Prototype and iterate on scoped components with guidance.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a PhD (or exceptional undergraduate) in EE, ECE, CS, Physics, or a related technical discipline.
• Solid programming in Python and/or C/C++; PyTorch or equivalent.
• Hands‑on experience in at least one of: computer vision / ML, embedded/edge systems, or camera/image-sensor/imaging pipelines — with genuine exposure to cameras, images, or visual perception (adjacent‑only modalities such as MRI/ultrasound/biosignals do not count).
• Able to execute a scoped project with guidance in a fast‑paced, multidisciplinary team; good communication.

Preferred Qualifications

• Efficient/edge model deployment: quantization, pruning, ONNX/TensorRT, NPU/DSP.
• Image/video CV, 3D vision, or event/depth sensing experience.
• Embedded/hardware exposure: sensor bring‑up, FPGA, PCB, or camera‑pipeline work.
• Comfort leveraging modern ML tools (VLM/LLM) in the workflow.

Job Information

【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern

The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $55- $55.

Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.

The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:

• Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
• Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
• Exercising sound judgment.

About Pico

Founded in April 2015, Pico is a VR company committed to developing immersive and interactive VR experiences for people around the world. Pico also provides tailor‑made solutions for our enterprise clients in the fields of education and healthcare.

Why Join ByteDance

Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance’s mission. Our innovative products are built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and enrich life - a mission we work towards every day.

Diversity & Inclusion

ByteDance is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.

Reasonable Accommodation

ByteDance is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at https://tinyurl.com/RA-request