News & Press Releases

ARLINGTON, VA — January 28, 2026 — The Archon Institute, a leading defense intelligence and advanced technology organization, today announced that it will host its first public open house on Saturday, April 12, 2026, at its main campus in Arlington, Virginia.

The event will feature opening remarks from Chief Executive Officer David Chen, panel discussions with senior Institute leaders and researchers, tours of selected facility areas, and an open question-and-answer session with the executive team. Registration is free and open to the public.

"For more than twenty years, the Archon Institute has served the defense and intelligence communities with a focus on technical excellence," said Nora Tanaka, Director of Communications. "The Open House is an opportunity to share that work with a broader audience and demonstrate our commitment to transparency and public accountability."

The Open House is part of a broader public engagement initiative launched in 2025 under the leadership of Tanaka, who joined the Institute from the RAND Corporation to build Archon's first dedicated communications function.

Event details and registration information are available at archoninstitute.com/open-house. Media inquiries may be directed to media@archoninstitute.com.

ARLINGTON, VA — July 15, 2025 — The Archon Institute today announced the appointment of Nora Tanaka as Director of Communications, a newly created position reflecting the Institute's commitment to strengthening its public engagement and media relations capabilities.

Tanaka joins the Archon Institute from the RAND Corporation, where she served as director of public affairs for six years, overseeing media relations, public communications, and external engagement for one of the world's foremost policy research organizations. Prior to RAND, she held communications roles at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Public Affairs.

"Nora brings exactly the combination of experience and judgment we need as we enter a new chapter of public engagement," said David Chen, CEO of the Archon Institute. "The defense community's relationship with the public is evolving, and we intend to be at the forefront of that evolution."

Tanaka will report directly to Chen and will be responsible for all aspects of the Institute's external communications, media relations, and public engagement strategy.

"The Archon Institute has an extraordinary story to tell," said Tanaka. "My role is to build the infrastructure and relationships that allow us to tell it — clearly, honestly, and in a way that builds the public trust this kind of work requires."

Tanaka holds a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

ARLINGTON, VA — March 3, 2025 — The Archon Institute today announced the completion of a major expansion of its AI & Autonomous Systems laboratory in Reston, Virginia. The expansion adds approximately 18,000 square feet of research space, new high-performance computing infrastructure, and dedicated facilities for the Institute's growing adversarial machine learning and AI safety research programs.

The expanded facility will support the work of approximately 80 researchers and engineers under the direction of Dr. Nadia Osei, Director of AI Research. The expansion reflects increasing demand for the Institute's AI capabilities from defense and intelligence community clients.

"Artificial intelligence is the defining technology challenge of this generation's defense landscape," said Dr. Richard Ames, Chief Technology Officer. "This investment ensures that the Archon Institute remains at the forefront of AI research — not just in capability development, but in the safety and robustness work that responsible deployment requires."

The expansion includes a new Adversarial AI Testing Laboratory, designed to evaluate the robustness of AI systems under simulated attack conditions, and upgraded secure computing facilities for classified AI research programs.

"Our approach to AI research starts with understanding failure modes," said Dr. Osei. "The new lab gives us the physical and computational infrastructure to stress-test systems at a scale that matches real-world deployment conditions."

The Reston laboratory is one of five Archon Institute facilities in the United States. The Institute also operates its corporate headquarters in Arlington, Virginia; a signals intelligence research facility in Laurel, Maryland; a satellite and space systems division in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and a maritime defense technologies center in San Diego, California.

ARLINGTON, VA — September 8, 2024 — The Archon Institute today announced its participation in a new multilateral strategic foresight initiative with defense research organizations from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The partnership will develop shared analytical frameworks and collaborative research programs focused on emerging defense and security challenges.

The initiative, coordinated through existing Five Eyes and allied defense cooperation channels, reflects a growing recognition that strategic foresight in an era of accelerating technological change requires collaborative analysis across allied nations.

"The threats facing our nations are increasingly transnational and technologically complex," said Dr. Elaine Morrow, Chief Strategy Officer. "No single organization — and no single country — can develop the full picture alone. This partnership brings together some of the finest analytical minds in the allied defense community."

The Archon Institute's Partnerships directorate, led by Director of Partnerships Marcus Webb, coordinated the Institute's role in the initiative over an eighteen-month negotiation period.

"This represents a new model for allied defense cooperation," said Webb. "We're moving beyond information sharing toward genuine collaborative analysis — building frameworks together rather than simply exchanging finished products."

The partnership will initially focus on three areas: AI governance in defense contexts, evolving deterrence frameworks for the Indo-Pacific region, and resilience planning for critical technology supply chains. Research outputs will be shared across partner organizations, with appropriate classification and security protections.

Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. The initiative is funded through a combination of national defense research budgets and existing bilateral cooperation agreements.

ARLINGTON, VA — February 12, 2024 — The Archon Institute today announced the appointment of Lisa Yun as Director of Information Security, a newly created position that elevates cybersecurity and communications security to the executive level within the Institute's organizational structure.

Yun joins the Archon Institute from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where she spent seven years in the Cyber Division specializing in counterintelligence operations targeting the U.S. defense industrial base. Her work focused on investigating and disrupting nation-state cyber intrusion campaigns, with particular expertise in social engineering methodologies and advanced persistent threat analysis.

"Protecting sensitive research and the people who conduct it is a strategic imperative, not an operational afterthought," said David Chen, CEO. "Lisa's experience on the offensive side of this equation — understanding how adversaries operate — makes her uniquely qualified to build our defensive capabilities."

Yun will report directly to Chen, an organizational structure that provides the information security function with independence from the operational divisions it is responsible for protecting. The decision to create a direct reporting line to the CEO reflects the Institute's view that information security is a strategic function integral to its mission.

"After seven years investigating the threats that target organizations like this one, I'm looking forward to building the defenses," said Yun. "The Archon Institute takes security seriously at every level, and this role gives me the mandate and resources to ensure that commitment translates into real capability."

Yun holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Michigan. She completed the FBI's Cyber Training Program at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

ARLINGTON, VA — June 20, 2023 — The Archon Institute today announced the opening of its newest research facility, the Maritime Defense Technologies Center in San Diego, California. The facility is the Institute's fifth U.S. location and its first on the Pacific coast.

The San Diego center will conduct research and development in naval defense applications, maritime domain awareness, and undersea technology systems. The facility leverages San Diego's established defense infrastructure and proximity to major Navy installations, including Naval Base San Diego and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.

"The maritime domain represents one of the most complex and consequential operational environments in modern defense," said Catherine Park, Chief Operating Officer. "Establishing a dedicated research presence in San Diego positions us to address those challenges with the focus and resources they require."

The facility will initially employ approximately 60 researchers and engineers, with capacity for growth. Research programs will be developed in coordination with the Institute's existing AI and signals intelligence divisions.

"The convergence of AI, sensor technology, and undersea systems is creating new capabilities — and new vulnerabilities — in maritime defense," said Dr. Richard Ames, Chief Technology Officer. "The San Diego facility gives us the platform to address both sides of that equation."

The Archon Institute now operates facilities in Arlington, Virginia (headquarters); Reston, Virginia (AI & Autonomous Systems); Laurel, Maryland (Signals Intelligence); Colorado Springs, Colorado (Satellite & Space Systems); and San Diego, California (Maritime Defense Technologies).

ARLINGTON, VA — October 15, 2021 — The Archon Institute today announced the appointment of Dr. Richard Ames as Chief Technology Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Ames succeeds Dr. Harold Pemberton, who retired after nine years in the role.

Dr. Ames joins the Archon Institute from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he served for eleven years, most recently as a program manager in the Information Innovation Office (I2O). At DARPA, he managed research programs in advanced artificial intelligence, human-machine teaming, and autonomous decision support systems. His work laid foundational frameworks for AI-assisted intelligence analysis that have since been adopted across multiple defense and intelligence agencies.

Prior to DARPA, Dr. Ames was an assistant professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, where his research focused on robust machine learning and adversarial AI.

"Richard brings a rare combination of academic rigor, government program management experience, and a deep understanding of where defense technology needs to go," said David Chen, CEO. "His appointment reflects our commitment to ensuring that the Archon Institute remains at the leading edge of defense technology research."

"The opportunity to set the research agenda for an organization of this caliber is extraordinary," said Dr. Ames. "The Archon Institute has the talent, the infrastructure, and the institutional will to tackle the hardest problems in defense technology. I'm honored to lead that effort."

Dr. Ames holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Chicago.