AI Software Development Engineer - Intern

AI Engineer – Agentic AI Systems (Fall Intern)

Why This Role Matters

AI is shifting from models to autonomous systems . At Altera, we are building agentic AI platforms tightly coupled with FPGA acceleration , enabling intelligent systems that can reason, act, and scale in real-world environments .

This role is designed for high-potential engineers early in their careers who want to

• work on cutting-edge AI (LLMs + agents + RAG)
• gain exposure to hardware-software co-design
• and grow quickly into technical leaders in AI systems

What You’ll Work On

Build Real Agentic AI Systems

• Develop LLM-powered agents that use tools, APIs, and data to complete complex tasks
• Implement RAG pipelines for large-scale knowledge integration
• Ship end-to-end systems from data ingestion → reasoning → action

Go Beyond “Model Usage”

• Design multi-step reasoning workflows , not just prompt calls
• Evaluate and improve model behavior (accuracy, latency, cost)
• Work with both open-source and frontier models

AI Meets Hardware (Differentiator)

• Collaborate with FPGA/ASIC teams on hardware-aware AI design
• Learn how AI systems are optimized across CPU / GPU / FPGA
• Explore efficient inference and system-level performance tradeoffs

Build Platforms, Not Just Features

• Develop reusable components for:
• memory and context management
• tool integration
• knowledge retrieval
• Contribute to internal AI platforms used across teams

The pay range below is for Bay Area California only. Actual salary may vary based on a number of factors including job location, job-related knowledge, skills, experiences, trainings , etc. We also offer incentive opportunities that reward employees based on individual and company performance.

$48/hr - $ 52/hr USD

We use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for the position. Applicants must be eligible for any required U.S. export authorizations .

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For

Background

• Currently pursuing a Master’s or PhD in CS, EE, or related field

Technical Strength

• Strong coding skills in Python (C++ is a plus)
• Hands-on experience building:
• AI/ML projects, OR
• backend / distributed systems
• Solid fundamentals in:
• data structures
• system design basics

Signal of Excellence (What Sets You Apart)

• You’ve built something non-trivial:
• AI project, open-source contribution, or research prototype
• You learn new frameworks quickly and ship working systems
• You’re curious about how systems work end-to-end , not just models

Bonus Points

• Experience with:
• LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar
• vector databases (FAISS, Milvus, etc.)
• Exposure to:
• RAG, prompt engineering, or agent workflows
• hardware acceleration or performance optimization

What You’ll Get

Fast Growth

• Work directly with senior architects and domain experts
• Clear path toward Senior Engineer → Architect roles

High Learning Density

• Exposure to both:
• modern AI systems (LLMs, agents)
• hardware acceleration (FPGA/ASIC)

Real Ownership

• Build production systems—not demos
• Your work will be used in real engineering workflows

Unique Positioning

• Few roles combine:
• Agentic AI systems
• EDA / semiconductor domain
• hardware-aware AI optimization

Job Type

Student / Intern (Fixed Term)

Shift

Shift 1 (United States of America)

Primary Location

San Jose, California, United States

Additional Locations

Posting Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance.