VERSES® “Digital Brain” Featured in WIRED and Popular Mechanics

Rhea-AI Summary

VERSES AI's AXIOM digital brain architecture has garnered significant attention from major tech publications and industry experts. WIRED featured AXIOM as a novel alternative to traditional neural networks, highlighting its efficiency in video-game environments. François Chollet, creator of the ARC-AGI benchmark, praised AXIOM's original approach and its use of active inference. On the Gameworld 10K benchmark, AXIOM demonstrated superior performance, outperforming Google DeepMind's DreamerV3 by 60%, using 99% less compute power, and learning 39 times faster. Popular Mechanics featured AXIOM-powered Genius agents, emphasizing their ability to operate on minimal power and potential to redefine artificial intelligence. The recognition from these publications and industry experts positions VERSES as a potential leader in developing human-level AI through their innovative cognitive computing approach.

Positive

• AXIOM outperformed Google DeepMind's DreamerV3 by 60% on Gameworld 10K benchmark
• System demonstrates 99% less compute usage and 39x faster learning compared to competitors
• Recognition from major publications WIRED and Popular Mechanics validates technology
• Endorsement from François Chollet, a prominent figure in AI and creator of ARC-AGI benchmark
• AXIOM agents can operate on minimal power (laptop battery) instead of requiring cloud infrastructure

Negative

• None.

New AXIOM model captures mainstream headlines and industry acclaim

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

1. The Wired article can be found at: https://www.wired.com/story/a-deep-learning-alternative-can-help-ai-agents-gameplay-the-real-world/
   
   
2. The Popular Mechanics article can be found at: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a64538193/ai-mimics-human-thought/
   
   
3. Soothsayer Analytics have validated the Axiom model. Further details can be found at: https://www.verses.ai/blog/whitepaper-mastering-gameworld-10k-in-minutes-with-the-axiom-digital-brain
   
   

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.
Press Inquiries: press@verses.ai
Investor Relations Inquiries
James Christodoulou, Chief Financial Officer

IR@verses.ai, +1(212)970-8889

FAQ

What is VERSES AI's AXIOM technology and how does it differ from traditional AI?

AXIOM is a digital brain architecture that uses active inference instead of traditional neural networks, allowing AI agents to learn and adapt in real-time while using significantly less computational power.

How does VERSES AI (VRSSF) AXIOM perform compared to Google DeepMind's technology?

AXIOM outperformed Google DeepMind's DreamerV3 by 60% on the Gameworld 10K benchmark, while using 99% less compute power and learning 39 times faster.

What are the power consumption advantages of VERSES' AXIOM system?

AXIOM-powered Genius agents can run on watts instead of gigawatts and operate on a laptop battery rather than requiring cloud infrastructure.

What did François Chollet say about VERSES AI's approach?

Chollet described VERSES' approach as very original and aligned with key problems in achieving AGI, noting that active inference has been badly missing from the deep-learning era.

How has VERSES AI (VRSSF) been recognized in mainstream media?

VERSES' AXIOM technology has been featured in major publications including WIRED, which praised its original approach to AGI, and Popular Mechanics, which called it a breakthrough that could redefine intelligence.