Karl Friston joins VERSES as Chief Scientist to Lead New Era in Artificial Intelligence

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VERSES Technologies Inc. (NEO:VERS) (OTCQX:VRSSF) ("VERSES'' or the "Company”), a cognitive computing company specializing in the next generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, announced today that Dr. Karl Friston, Professor of Neuroscience at University College London, Scientific Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, and one of the world’s leading and most cited scientists in the study of the brain and mind (i.e., Computational Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence), has joined the Company as its Chief Scientist to direct and oversee the Company’s advanced AI research and development.

Friston’s world-leading expertise in the development and application of Active Inference, which approaches the design of intelligent systems using design principles from nature (i.e., the physics and neurobiology of information processing), will be central to the R&D of the class of next-generation AI systems being developed at VERSES. The first output of his tenure as Chief Scientist of VERSES AI Research Lab, which is directed by Dr. Maxwell Ramstead, will be a White Paper that will propose a novel approach to addressing the current limitations of AI and offer a multi-stage roadmap toward enabling the “holy grail” of AI known as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

“It is with great enthusiasm and excitement that we welcome Karl Friston to VERSES as our Chief Scientist,” said Gabriel René, Founder, and CEO of VERSES. “Dr. Friston’s breakthrough work in neuroscience and biologically-inspired AI, known as Active Inference, aligns beautifully with our vision and mission to enable a “smarter world” where AI powers the applications of the 21st century. As the originator of this principle, it is only fitting that Karl has a significant role in VERSES AI research and development all the way through their applied uses in product commercialization.”

Friston who was ranked #1 most influential neuroscientist in the world by Semantic Scholar in 2016 has had an illustrious and decorated scientific career. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006 and The Royal Society of Biology in 2012, received the Weldon Memorial Prize and Medal in 2013 for his remarkable contributions to mathematical biology and was elected as a member of EMBO in 2014 and the Academia Europaea in 2015. He was the 2016 recipient of the Charles Branch Award for unparalleled breakthroughs in Brain Research and the Glass Brain Award from the Organization for Human Brain Mapping. He holds Honorary doctorates from the universities of York, Zurich, Liège, and Radboud University. “I am delighted and honored to join VERSES. I have seldom met such a friendly, focused, committed, and right-minded group of colleagues. On a personal note, my appointment as Chief Scientist is exactly the kind of dénouement of my academic career I had hoped for – a dénouement that marks the beginning of a new and exciting journey of discovery and enabling,” said Karl Friston.

“I am genuinely delighted to be working alongside Karl Friston at VERSES,” said Maxwell Ramstead, Director of Research at VERSES. “This is an opportunity to introduce Active Inference to a broader audience and highlight the significant role that we believe it will have in the development of the next generation of Artificial Intelligence systems. The application of Active Inference to Artificial Intelligence marks a shift in the development of intelligent synthetic systems, drawing inspiration and design principles from the way that the brain, nervous system, and body act and react. We believe that it will bring about a paradigm shift in AI.”

VERSES will publish its research paper to arxiv.org in early December and plans to host a Webinar to explore the applications and implications of Active Inference on the future of Artificial Intelligence.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_J._Friston">"Karl J. Friston"</a>, which is released under the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"> Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0</a>.

About VERSES
VERSES is a cognitive computing company specializing in next-generation Artificial Intelligence. Modeled after natural systems and the design principles of the human brain and the human experience, VERSES' flagship offering, KOSM™, is a network operating system for enhancing any application with adaptive intelligence. Built on open standards, KOSM transforms disparate data into a universal context that fosters trustworthy collaboration between humans, machines, and AI, across digital and physical domains. Imagine a smarter world that elevates human potential through innovations inspired by nature. Learn more at VERSES, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

On Behalf of the Company
Gabriel René
VERSES Technologies Inc.
Co-Founder & CEO
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Forward-Looking Statements Cautionary Note

This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “intends” or “anticipates,” or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may,” “could,” “should,” “would” or “occur”. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things, Active Inference being central to VERSES’ future research and development and White Paper and research paper deliverables on Artificial Intelligence and Active Inference. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that the Company will be able to execute on its research and development plans and that the Company’s research and development plans will not be adversely impacted by COVID-19 or the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe. These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks relating to the Company being unable to execute on its research and development plans, the impact of technological inefficiencies, cyber security attacks, adverse changes in legislation relating to the digital twin market, increase in competition, the volatility of global capital markets, political instability, the lack of access to capital or financing when required, the loss of key personnel, technology or software disruptions, unanticipated costs, risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, risks relating to the extent and duration of the conflict in Eastern Europe and its impact on global markets and other risk factors disclosed in the Company’s disclosure record on www.sedar.com under the Company’s profile. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.