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VERSES® 'Digital Brain' Featured in WIRED and Popular Mechanics

VERSES® 'Digital Brain' Featured in WIRED and Popular Mechanics

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VERSES AI Inc. (CBOE: VERS; OTCQB: VRSSF) ('VERSES' or the 'Company') a cognitive computing company specializing in next-generation agentic software systems today announced important third-party recognition of its digital-brain architecture, AXIOM, following features in WIRED and Popular Mechanics and public acknowledgement from ARC-AGI benchmark creator François Chollet.
WIRED: A 'very original' path to AGI
In WIRED 's feature ' A Deep Learning Alternative Can Help AI Agents Gameplay the Real World,' senior writer Will Knight describes AXIOM as 'a new machine-learning approach that draws inspiration from how the human brain models and learns about the world.' He adds that it 'offers an alternative to the artificial neural networks dominant in modern AI' and highlights its 'impressive efficiency' across multiple video-game environments.
François Chollet—Keras inventor, TIME 100 AI honoree, and creator of the ARC-AGI benchmark—told WIRED:
'The general goals of the [VERSES] approach and some of its key features track with what I see as the most important problems to focus on to get to AGI… The work strikes me as very original… We need more people trying out new ideas away from the beaten path of large language models.'
Chollet also posted on X.com acknowledging that active inference—as demonstrated by AXIOM, where agents act to reduce uncertainty by aligning their internal world models with reality—is 'badly missing from the deep-learning era' and '100% correct'
New Benchmarks For AGI - Gameworlds
Chollet's well known benchmark for AGI known as ARC-AGI—which measures progress toward general intelligence—tests AI systems on spatial-reasoning tasks and is used by OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and others as the industry's gold standard.
ARC-AGI 3, the next installment of this benchmark, is expected to deploy 100+ novel game worlds to test a new set of capabilities. We believe that this reflects the AI community's move from static Q&A to interactive environments, where games serve as the medium to force agents to explore, form hypotheses, and spontaneously generalize.
AXIOM's Active-Inference engine has already demonstrated these skills: it learns unfamiliar worlds, plans by minimizing uncertainty, and adapts in real time— using its cognitive architecture.
On the Gameworld 10K benchmark, AXIOM outperformed Google DeepMind's DreamerV3 by up to 60%, used 99% less compute, and learned 39× faster as validated by Soothsayer Analytics, in June.
Popular Mechanics: 'This breakthrough could redefine intelligence forever.'
Popular Mechanics also published a feature article titled ' This AI Model Can Mimic Human Thought—And May Even Be Capable of Reading Your Mind,' calling Genius—VERSES' product suite powered by AXIOM— 'a level up from existing AI' and noting that Genius agents run on watts instead of gigawatts and can operate from a laptop battery rather than the cloud. The article begins:
'AI is learning to think like us, bridging the worlds of biology and technology. This breakthrough could redefine intelligence forever.'
'AXIOM was built for interactive intelligence—exploring, planning, and learning in real time,' said VERSES CEO Gabriel René. 'Active Inference is designed to master new worlds faster, with far less compute and human-like adaptability—bringing us closer to truly human-level AI and, we believe, positioning VERSES as the market leader.'
Notes to editors
About VERSES
VERSES® is a cognitive computing company building next-generation intelligent software systems modeled after the wisdom and genius of Nature. Designed around first principles found in science, physics and biology, our flagship product, Genius,™ is an agentic enterprise intelligence platform designed to generate reliable domain-specific predictions and decisions under uncertainty. Imagine a Smarter World that elevates human potential through technology inspired by Nature. Learn more at verses.ai, LinkedIn and X.
On behalf of the Company
Gabriel René, Founder & CEO, VERSES AI Inc.
James Christodoulou, Chief Financial Officer
[email protected], +1(212)970-8889
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AI is gutting workforces—and an ex-Google exec says CEOs are too busy ‘celebrating' their efficiency gains to see they're next
AI is gutting workforces—and an ex-Google exec says CEOs are too busy ‘celebrating' their efficiency gains to see they're next

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

AI is gutting workforces—and an ex-Google exec says CEOs are too busy ‘celebrating' their efficiency gains to see they're next

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9 Best Hotel Rewards Programs for Elevating Your Next Stay
9 Best Hotel Rewards Programs for Elevating Your Next Stay

WIRED

time4 hours ago

  • WIRED

9 Best Hotel Rewards Programs for Elevating Your Next Stay

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Most programs have tiered status levels that unlock additional perks like late checkout, lounge access, and priority upgrades, rewarding frequent guests with enhanced benefits. What are qualifying nights and base points? AccordionItemContainerButton A qualifying night is any night that you stay at a participating hotel and pay an eligible rate—meaning the booking was made through the hotel directly or an approved partner. Base points are the standard points you earn on eligible spending before any bonuses are applied, and they often determine your progress toward elite status tiers. How do I earn points faster or reach elite status quicker? AccordionItemContainerButton You earn points primarily by booking stays and spending money at hotels within the program's portfolio. Many programs also offer bonus points for spending on services at the hotel, like dining or spa treatments, or through cobranded credit cards. To reach elite status faster, frequent travelers can accumulate qualifying nights or base points quickly, often accelerated by promotions or 'elite challenges,' where you can earn status faster over a condensed period. Booking with a hotel's preferred credit card or during promotional periods can help you earn more points than you normally would. Are hotel points worth collecting, or should I just book the cheapest hotel each time? AccordionItemContainerButton If you travel regularly—especially for business or extended leisure—hotel loyalty points can add significant value. However, if your travel is infrequent or primarily price-driven, the value of points might be limited. It's best to choose a program aligned with your travel patterns and preferred brands to maximize rewards without sacrificing convenience or comfort. For business travelers who toggle between boardrooms and boutique stays, World of Hyatt offers a loyalty program that's both intuitive and indulgent. 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Points go further than you'd expect, with off-peak redemptions starting at just 3,500 points and access to aspirational brands like Park Hyatt, Alila, and Andaz. The portfolio leans quality over quantity, but spans everything from high-functioning business hubs like Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Connecticut and Thompson Washington, DC, to design-forward accommodations perfect for off-the-clock decompression. With a staggering portfolio of over 8,500 properties across 30 brands in over 130 countries, Marriott Bonvoy promises global coverage. For business travelers whose calendars swing between red carpets and red-eyes, Bonvoy offers the kind of flexibility and depth that turn routine trips into upgraded experiences at the drop of a hat. The tier system is expansive but attainable: Silver Elite kicks in at 10 nights, Gold at 25, Platinum at 50, and Titanium at 75. 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Tekion Announces Toyota SmartPath/MONOGRAM Desking Integration
Tekion Announces Toyota SmartPath/MONOGRAM Desking Integration

Business Wire

time5 hours ago

  • Business Wire

Tekion Announces Toyota SmartPath/MONOGRAM Desking Integration

PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tekion, innovator of the first cloud-native platform serving the entire automotive retail ecosystem, today announced its latest integration with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMNA). Toyota and Lexus dealers can now utilize Tekion as a SmartPath/MONOGRAM Desk Deal provider, delivering better efficiency and helping streamline operations. Share With this integration, Toyota and Lexus dealers in the United States can more efficiently use Tekion's Desking within Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) seamlessly pushing deals from the SmartPath/MONOGRAM digital retail program. ARC is a comprehensive, cloud-native platform that includes AI-powered retail, service, parts, accounting, customer relationship management, analytics and more in one seamless platform to help elevate and materially improve an auto retailer's end-to-end operations. Tekion's Desking integration will enhance the dealer's experience within ARC and help streamline operations by eliminating the need to manually enter deal or customer information from SmartPath/MONOGRAM into ARC. 'Our Desk Deal Integration with Toyota SmartPath/MONOGRAM marks a step forward in enhancing the dealer experience,' said Guru Sankararaman, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer at Tekion. 'By eliminating the need to manually enter deal and customer information, we're not only streamlining operations but also empowering dealers to focus more on their customers and less on redundant tasks. This collaboration represents our commitment to driving efficiency and innovation across Tekion's automotive retail ecosystem.' About SmartPath/MONOGRAM Toyota's SmartPath and Lexus' MONOGRAM digital retail solution empowers consumers to be in control of their buying experience, every step of the way. Customers can browse real-time dealer new & used inventory, compare pricing, and customize their payment options — all from the comfort of their home or on-the-go. The information is seamlessly synced between the SmartPath/Monogram Digital Retail tool and the CRM so the dealer receives real-time information along the customer's purchasing experience. About Tekion Tekion is the first and fastest cloud-native platform for automotive retail. Powered by Tekion AI, its platform leverages intelligent automation, real-time insights, and advanced decision support to enhance employee and customer experiences across the dealership ecosystem. Positively disrupting auto retail for the first time in over 50 years, Tekion has challenged the paradigm with its revolutionary platform: Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) for retailers, Automotive Enterprise Cloud (AEC) for manufacturers and large automotive enterprises, and Automotive Partner Cloud (APC) for technology and industry partners. Leveraging cutting-edge technology, big data and AI, Tekion unifies OEMs, dealers, and consumers—streamlining operations and enabling the most modern and efficient automotive retail experiences ever. For more information, visit

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