The Vatican, in collaboration with Microsoft and Iconem, has created a digital replica of St. Peter’s Basilica using advanced AI and photogrammetry, enhancing visitor experiences and aiding in preservation efforts ahead of the 2025 Holy Year Jubilee.

Google Labs has launched GenChess, an AI-powered platform for customizing chess pieces and playing against AI opponents. In collaboration with FIDE, Google also introduced AI chess initiatives, including a coding challenge on Kaggle to advance AI chess engine development.

Despite the hype around Generative AI, the transition to consumer-ready hardware has been slow, with devices like Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses and Rabbit's r1 facing performance issues and high costs, limiting widespread adoption.

Alibaba's QwQ-32B-Preview AI model, with 32.5 billion parameters, showcases superior reasoning performance and is released under the Apache 2.0 license. However, it faces challenges such as language switching and ethical concerns, particularly in China.

Spotify's recent API restrictions have frustrated third-party developers who rely on the platform's data for creating music recommendation tools, highlighting tensions between tech companies and developers and potentially stifling innovation.

Reddit is focusing on international growth by implementing AI translation tools to attract users in markets like India and Brazil and enhancing its advertising strategies to boost user engagement and revenue.

The FTC has initiated an antitrust investigation into Microsoft's software licensing and cloud computing practices, focusing on potential anti-competitive behavior, which could significantly impact Microsoft's business practices and the broader tech industry.