P

Persona

Identity verification platform with SDKs

Research Scientist

Full-TimePosted on 10/15/2026
$150k - $200k/yr+ 3% 401(k) Contribution
Mid
Master's, PhD
San Francisco, CA, USA
Hybrid
AI & Machine LearningAI Research

About the job

Requirements
  • Deep expertise in at least one of computer vision, mathematics and statistics, or identity verification and fraud prevention.
  • A PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related technical field is strongly preferred; candidates with an MS and an exceptional research record will also be considered.
  • A demonstrated record of peer-reviewed publications in relevant conferences or journals, with substantive contributions to the research.
  • Ability to independently lead research, design rigorous experiments, and use results, including negative or unexpected findings, to guide next steps.
  • Ability to explain experimental design, findings, and limitations to technical and non-technical audiences.
Responsibilities
  • Lead research on open problems in identity verification and fraud prevention, using focused experiments to test new ideas quickly.
  • Develop methods to detect manipulated documents, AI-generated images, and emerging fraud attacks.
  • Evaluate how reliably models perform across different populations.
  • Uncover patterns in verification data that reveal fraud and establish that they are real signal rather than noise.
  • Calibrate model confidence and measure fraud events with limited labeled data.
  • Partner with machine learning and engineering teams to turn research prototypes into production models.
  • Publish at leading venues such as CVPR, NeurIPS, and USENIX Security, and remain active in the research community.
Desired Qualifications
  • Research on deepfakes, presentation attacks, or adversarial robustness.
  • Experience with noisy, imbalanced real-world data.
  • Experience shipping machine learning research to production.

About the company

P

Persona

View
cbWebsite

Generating company summary.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

Series D

Total Funding

$417.5M

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2018

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • March 2026 Candidate Verification targets hiring fraud before day one across Ashby, Greenhouse, Workday.
  • April 2026 ConnectID lets Australian users prove age without sharing ID documents.
  • Persona's AI-fraud products and Relay launch match rising demand for deepfake-resistant verification.

What critics are saying

  • February 2026 researchers exposed Persona frontend files, intensifying scrutiny over 269 checks.
  • Discord ended its Persona age-verification experiment after backlash, weakening trust with consumer platforms.
  • If privacy backlash spreads to OpenAI or Roblox, Persona's consumer verification wedge collapses.

What makes Persona unique

  • 2026 Gartner named Persona a Leader, ranking it highest for Ability to Execute.
  • Persona serves 4,000+ enterprises and supports 200+ countries, 20 languages, and 90+ integrations.
  • FedRAMP Moderate in May 2026 and ConnectID integration broaden regulated-use reach.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • 401(k) Company Match
  • Unlimited Paid Time Off
  • Family Planning Benefits
  • Professional Development Budget
  • Wellness Program

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

2%

1 year growth

4%

2 year growth

3%
AiThority
Oct 15th, 2026
Persona expands identity research to help keep the internet human.

Persona expands identity research to help keep the internet human. New Persona Research Grant offers academic researchers $100,000 to advance the study of accessible identity, fraud and privacy. Oct 15, 2026 Prev Next 1 of 43,763 Persona, the global identity platform, has helped shape the industry's response to emerging threats to online identity, from bot impersonation, AI-powered fraud and identity theft, publishing proprietary data and research that inform trust and safety teams, academics and policymakers. Persona is taking those efforts a step further, introducing the Persona Research Grant program, an open call for academic research that will strengthen how identity is verified, protected and trusted online. The program expands on grants Persona previously awarded to researchers at three U.S. universities, and on its in-house research team's work, which was accepted at computer vision's premier conference. Establishing who is real online has never been more difficult, or more consequential. The financial toll alone is significant: Americans reported losing a record $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025, according to the Federal Trade Commission, up 27% in a single year and nearly five times what they lost in 2020. The FBI's Internet Crime Report puts cybercrime losses even higher, at $20.9 billion. AI and bots are accelerating the problem. Generative tools let bad actors clone faces and voices, impersonate real people and trusted brands, and run attacks at a massive scale. People are left questioning whether the comments they read, the videos they watch, and the reviews they rely on are authentic. The scale of automated activity adds to that uncertainty: according to Thales' 2026 Bad Bot Report, automated traffic now makes up 53% of all internet activity. As impersonation becomes easier to scale and harder to detect, open, rigorous research is essential to understanding how these attacks evolve and developing effective protections. "The world is pouring unprecedented investment into making AI more capable, but far less into the other side of the equation: proving there's a real person behind the screen, protecting their privacy and making sure everyone can participate online," said Charles Yeh, co-founder and chief technology officer of Persona. "This year alone, our research has mapped how selfie fraud actually happens, earned recognition at the field's top venues and helped power Persona Relay, which lets people prove they're human without revealing who they are. Through our grant program, we're bringing more researchers into that work, because keeping the internet human is too important for any one company to take on alone." Persona's Research Grant program offers researchers more than funding. Grant recipients collaborate with a team that builds identity systems used in the real world, and Persona supports publishing the results so the whole field can build on them. Program details: * What it funds: Academic research that advances digital identity, privacy and fraud prevention * Focus areas: Data privacy, fraud intelligence and accessible identity * Award: Up to $100,000 per project, for projects lasting up to 12 months * Who can apply: Full-time faculty and researchers at universities and degree-granting research institutions * Number of awards: Unlimited; all qualifying proposals will be considered * Timing: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis * How to apply: Submit proposals to [email protected] or visit withpersona.com/research/persona-research-grants to learn more To date, Persona's research practice has partnered with leading universities, including the University at Buffalo to build a taxonomy and benchmark for selfie fraud, and collaborations with the University of Connecticut on privacy-preserving cryptography research: "Oblivious Single Access Machines Are Concretely Efficient" and "Updatable Oblivious Key Value Stores With Access Control and Application to Multi Key Searchable Encryption." Persona is currently working with the University of North Carolina on detecting fraud in selfie videos. Two Persona research papers were accepted to the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 2026, or CVPR, the field's premier computer vision conference. "From Measurement to Mitigation: Quantifying and Reducing Identity Leakage in Image Representation Encoders with Linear Subspace Removal" earned a spot in the main conference.

Aaj Tak
Oct 11th, 2026
Rejected by 15 universities, then raised $10 million in funding at age 19, doing this work

Rejected by 15 universities, then raised $10 million in funding at age 19, doing this work 15 universities rejected 19-year-old Zach Yadegari and refused him admission. But now he has raised $10 million in funding for his new AI assistant startup Persona. People are asking that while young people give up after so many rejections, Zach has not backed down. Raised $10 million in funding at age 19. (Image: LinkedIn/@Zach Yadegari) * New Delhi, * October 11, 2026, * (Updated October 11, 2026, 4:25 PM IST) Harvard, Yale and Stanford were among 15 major universities that had refused admission to 19-year-old Zach Yadegari. But they say when you work hard for something, you definitely get the result. After the rejection from universities, he has now raised $10 million in funding for his new AI startup Persona. Zach has also previously been a co-founder of the calorie-counting app Cal AI. However, he sold it to MyFitnessPal. But he said that before this deal, it was earning more than $30 million (about Rs 250 crore) every year.

Gate.com
Oct 8th, 2026
Cal AI founder Zach Yadegari raises $10M for Persona AI startup.

Cal AI founder Zach Yadegari raises $10M for Persona AI startup. 2026-10-08 07:05:45 Key takeaways. * Zach Yadegari launched Persona AI startup and raised $10 million led by Vine Ventures in funding. * Persona's $179 wearable band activates via button and encrypts user data in cloud processing. * Persona's wearable band is expected to launch in December with five figures in preorder revenue. Zach Yadegari, the 19-year-old co-founder of calorie tracking app Cal AI, has launched Persona, a new AI agent startup, and raised $10 million in funding. Vine Ventures led the round, with participation from Z Fellows founder Cory Levy and Collective Global. Yadegari left MyFitnessPal in June after the company acquired Cal AI in March for an undisclosed sum, following Cal AI's achievement of over $30 million in annual revenue in under two years. Persona offers a personal AI assistant with a forthcoming $179 wearable band designed with privacy protections, differentiating itself from ambient AI devices by using button activation and encrypted cloud-based processing. Vine Ventures leads $10 million funding round. Vine Ventures led Persona's $10 million funding round, with Z Fellows founder Cory Levy and Collective Global participating as investors. The funding follows Yadegari's departure from MyFitnessPal in June, where he worked after the company acquired Cal AI in March. Cal AI had generated over $30 million in annual revenue in under two years before the acquisition. Persona launches privacy-focused wearable band at $179. Persona's $179 wearable band activates via button press or wrist flick, distinguishing it from ambient AI devices that continuously listen and record. The device runs its AI model in Persona's cloud rather than on the device itself, with user data encrypted in transit and at rest. Users can delete their data, and the company states that conversations remain private and cannot be sold to advertisers or data brokers. The assistant includes safeguards against phishing and prompt-injection attempts, and cannot access credit card details - purchases require user approval through external providers such as Stripe Link. Ad-Supported business model targets shopping research. Persona's current business model relies on advertisements shown during shopping research. The company presents sponsored items alongside organic recommendations, with the agent unaware of which items are advertised. Yadegari stated that "the agent knows their preferences" and displays items matching those preferences, including sponsored results. The assistant performs tasks including ordering food or rides, taking notes, booking travel, and answering questions and emails. Beta version available via iMessage, band ships December. Persona launched as a free beta product accessible through iMessage text messages, attracting a few thousand beta users. The wearable band has generated five figures in preorder revenue and is expected to be available in December. An app is in development. Yadegari will speak at TechCrunch Disrupt on October 13-15 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on the topic "How to create viral growth and capitalize on it." Faq. What did Zach Yadegari announce about his new AI startup? Zach Yadegari launched Persona, a new AI agent startup, and raised $10 million in funding led by Vine Ventures, with participation from Z Fellows founder Cory Levy and Collective Global. The startup offers a personal AI assistant with a $179 wearable band expected to be available in December. How does Persona's wearable band protect user privacy? Persona's band activates via button press or wrist flick rather than continuous listening. The AI model runs in Persona's cloud with user data encrypted in transit and at rest. Users can delete their data, and the company states conversations cannot be sold to advertisers or data brokers. The assistant cannot access credit card details, and purchases require user approval through external providers such as Stripe Link. When will Persona's wearable band be available for purchase? The $179 wearable band is expected to be available in December. A free beta version of Persona is currently accessible via iMessage text messages, with a few thousand beta users and five figures in preorder revenue already generated. Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third-party sources and is for reference only. It does not represent the views or opinions of Gate and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Virtual asset trading involves high risk. Please do not rely solely on the information on this page when making decisions. For details, see the Disclaimer.

Associated Press
Sep 30th, 2026
Persona tackles AI-powered identity fraud as high-velocity attacks double year-over-year

Persona, a San Francisco-based identity verification and fraud defence platform, has released data showing identity fraud is becoming more sophisticated through AI and automation. The company found that devices associated with high-velocity identity verification attempts more than doubled year over year, whilst attackers' devices were linked to 1.5 times as many IP addresses as legitimate users. High-velocity attacks involve five or more verification attempts within two minutes, with fraudsters making minor changes before resubmitting applications. Devices cycling through 10 or more IP addresses increased eightfold, often using residential proxies. In response, Persona is launching new fraud prevention products, including a fully managed Fraud Fight Flow and enhanced tools to detect AI-generated content and stolen identities. The platform serves organisations across fintech, marketplaces, and AI platforms in over 200 countries.

Sapio Asia
Aug 14th, 2026
Samsung Electronics recruits deep learning authority Bohyung Han and former Meta Executive Taerin Han to accelerate AI in semiconductors - The asia business daily.

Samsung Electronics recruits deep learning authority Bohyung Han and former Meta Executive Taerin Han to accelerate AI in semiconductors - The asia business daily. * 14 August 2026 * colind88 * News Feed Bohyung Han of Seoul National University named Fellow Taerin Han, data engineering expert, joins as Executive Vice President AI to be applied across all core semiconductor operations. Samsung Electronics is accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in its semiconductor division by consecutively recruiting experts in deep learning and data engineering. Professor Bohyung Han of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, recruited as a Samsung Electronics Fellow. Samsung Electronics View original image According to the industry on August 14, Samsung Electronics has recruited Bohyung Han, a leading authority in the field of deep learning and vision AI and a professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, as a Fellow. Fellow Han is a renowned scholar who has focused on visual data recognition and AI analysis technologies throughout his career as an assistant professor at POSTECH and a professor at Seoul National University. Samsung Electronics plans for Fellow Han to spearhead the development of AI models specialized for semiconductor research and development (R&D). In addition, the company has also hired Taerin Han, an expert in data engineering with hands-on experience at big tech companies. Executive Vice President Han is a former senior developer at Persona in the United States and a former senior engineering manager at Meta. Han will be responsible for building 'AI Ready Data,' a high-quality data infrastructure that AI models can immediately learn from and utilize. Taerin Han, Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics. Samsung Electronics View original image With these latest recruitments, Samsung Electronics plans to significantly expand the application of AI throughout all core processes - ranging from semiconductor design and process development to manufacturing and quality control. The strategy aims to shorten semiconductor development cycles and maximize yield and production efficiency. Furthermore, Samsung Electronics intends to continue securing top global talent in AI and data, leveraging their expertise across internal organizations to further strengthen its leadership position in the next-generation AI semiconductor market. 한글 기사 보기" onclick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category': '바이라인하단', 'event_label': '원문보기'});"> 한글 기사 보기 This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.