Apple said the anniversary program began on March 13 with Alicia Keys at Apple Grand Central in New York and closed on March 31 with a performance by Sir Paul McCartney at Apple Park in Cupertino, part of a broader push to frame the company’s half-century mark around “creativity, innovation, and impact.” 

In Cupertino, Apple closed the month with Paul McCartney at Apple Park, a symbolic finale given Steve Jobs’ long-documented admiration for the Beatles. 

Cupertino Apple Park stage

Paul McCartney performs at Apple Park in Cupertino, the grand finale of Apple’s 50th anniversary celebrations

Tim Cook greets the crowd at Apple Park

In New York, Alicia Keys opened the celebrations from the steps of Apple Grand Central, with Apple highlighting the show as both a live performance and a showcase for iPhone 17 Pro capture. 

Alicia Keys kicks off Apple’s 50th anniversary celebrations with a live performance atop Apple Grand Central’s iconic steps

Customers fill Apple Grand Central for a special event on March 13

Tim Cook and Alicia Keys greet the audience at Apple’s 50th anniversary celebration in New York City

In London, Apple Battersea hosted Mumford & Sons and a DJ set from Nia Archives, linking the anniversary to the U.K.’s live music scene. 

London in honor of Apple’s 50th anniversary

In Paris, Apple Champs-Élysées turned the spotlight on French touch, with a pop-up recording studio, Today at Apple sessions, and performances from artists including Breakbot and Cassius. 

Apple Champs-Élysées hosts a live performance with French touch pioneers such as Breakbot and Cassius, alongside the next generation, including disiz, Ebony, Rnboi, and Guy2Bezbar, with DJ sets by Paloma Le Friant, Andy 4000, and more

In Shanghai, Apple Jing’an became part of Shanghai Fashion Week through a Feng Chen Wang show themed “Life and Love.” 

As part of Shanghai Fashion Week, designer Feng Chen Wang presented a special show at Apple Jing’an themed “Life and Love,” celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary and the company’s spirit of thinking different

In Chengdu, Apple Taikoo Li Chengdu featured a performance from Chinese pop star Chris Lee, whom Apple positioned as a cultural figure spanning music, fashion, and art. 

Chris Lee performs at Apple Taikoo Li Chengdu in honor of Apple’s 50th anniversary

In Mumbai, Apple BKC unveiled a mural by Mira Felicia Malhotra and paired it with a conversation featuring singer-songwriter Anuv Jain.

At Apple BKC in Mumbai, a playful mural by visual artist and illustrator Mira Felicia Malhotra pays tribute to the city’s vibrant creative community

 In Tokyo, Apple Omotesando hosted virtual artist Mori Calliope for a live performance and discussion about her creative process inside Apple’s ecosystem. 

Virtual artist Mori Calliope performs at Apple Omotesando in Tokyo for a celebration of creativity and technology

In Vancouver, Apple Pacific Centre featured figure skater Elladj Baldé, who used a Today at Apple session to discuss his iPhone-shot “Wild Ice” work.

In a special Today at Apple session, Canadian figure skater Elladj Baldé discussed his creative journey with his “Wild Ice” series

 In Mexico City, Apple Antara gathered talent from Apple TV productions including Las Azules, Acapulco, and Midnight Family for a conversation about local storytelling with global reach.

Apple Antara brought together talent behind the hit Apple TV productions Las Azules, Acapulco, and Midnight Family for an intimate conversation about creativity and storytelling

 In Washington, D.C., Apple Carnegie Library centered accessibility, with Troy Kotsur, Roberta Cordano, and Haben Girma discussing Deaf creativity and inclusive technology.

Troy Kotsur and Roberta Cordano join Apple’s Sarah Herrlinger at Apple Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C., for a discussion about the legacy and future of Deaf creativity

 In Sydney, the Sydney Opera House became a giant canvas for “Illuminating Creativity,” projecting artwork from emerging Australian artists and members of the public to a score composed in Logic Pro.

Illuminating Creativity transforms the Sydney Opera House’s eastern Bennelong sails into a canvas to showcase digital artwork from 11 emerging Australian artists and six members of the public

 In Bangkok, Apple Iconsiam featured artist Molly Yllom and her Crybaby universe in a special Today at Apple session.

To celebrate Apple’s 50th anniversary, Molly Yllom — the artist behind the Crybaby universe — led a special Today at Apple session at Apple Iconsiam in Bangkok

 In Seoul, Apple Myeongdong welcomed K-pop group CORTIS for a fan conversation and live performance. 

K-pop sensation CORTIS performs at Apple Myeongdong in Seoul as part of Apple’s 50th anniversary celebrations

The message behind the anniversary was clear: Apple wanted its 50th birthday to feel less like a retrospective and more like a demonstration of how tightly its products are woven into today’s creative industries, from recording studios and fashion runways to accessibility tools and public art. That framing also matches Apple’s own description of the milestone, with the company saying it remains focused on “the future” as it moves beyond its first half-century.

Photos: Apple

NVIDIA and Global Industrial Software Giants Bring Design, Engineering and Manufacturing Into the AI Era
NVIDIA announced partnerships with Cadence, Dassault Systèmes, PTC, Siemens and Synopsys to bring CUDA-X, Omniverse and GPU-accelerated tools into industrial workflows. The effort targets faster design, engineering and factory optimization across major manufacturers.

Hyundai Motor, Kia and NVIDIA Expand Strategic Partnership for Next-Generation Autonomous Driving Technology
NVIDIA said Hyundai and Kia are expanding their work with the company around autonomous driving built on the DRIVE Hyperion platform. The announcement signals continued momentum for NVIDIA’s automotive stack in next-generation vehicle systems.

NVIDIA Announces Open Physical AI Data Factory Blueprint to Accelerate Robotics, Vision AI Agents and Autonomous Vehicle Development
NVIDIA introduced an open reference architecture designed to automate the way physical AI training data is generated, augmented and evaluated. The blueprint is meant to cut the cost and complexity of training robotics, vision and autonomous-driving systems.

Roche Scales NVIDIA AI Factories Globally to Accelerate Drug Discovery, Diagnostic Solutions and Manufacturing Breakthroughs
Roche is expanding its NVIDIA deployment to more than 3,500 Blackwell GPUs across global operations. NVIDIA framed the project as a major example of AI factories being used across R&D, diagnostics and manufacturing.

NVIDIA, T-Mobile and Partners Integrate Physical AI Applications on AI-RAN-Ready Infrastructure
NVIDIA and T-Mobile said they are working with Nokia and developers to bring physical AI applications onto distributed edge AI networks. The project points to telecom infrastructure becoming a platform for real-time AI services.

Adobe and NVIDIA Announce Strategic Partnership to Deliver the Next Generation of Firefly Models and Creative, Marketing and Agentic Workflows
Adobe and NVIDIA unveiled a broader alliance around AI-powered creation, production and personalization. The partnership includes work on future Firefly models and agentic workflows for creative and marketing use cases.

BYD, Geely, Isuzu and Nissan Adopt NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion for Level 4 Vehicles
NVIDIA said adoption of DRIVE Hyperion is expanding with BYD, Geely, Isuzu and Nissan, alongside other mobility players. The company presented this as evidence of growing demand for scalable Level 4 autonomous vehicle platforms.

NVIDIA Ignites the Next Industrial Revolution in Knowledge Work With Open Agent Development Platform
NVIDIA launched an open agent development platform centered on the Agent Toolkit and OpenShell runtime. The goal is to help enterprises build and manage autonomous, self-evolving AI agents more safely and efficiently.

NVIDIA Launches Nemotron Coalition of Leading Global AI Labs to Advance Open Frontier Models
NVIDIA introduced the Nemotron Coalition, a new collaboration among open-model builders and AI developers. The initiative is designed to pool research, data, expertise and compute to accelerate frontier open-model development.

NVIDIA Expands Open Model Families to Power the Next Wave of Agentic, Physical and Healthcare AI
NVIDIA expanded its open model families with new releases aimed at developers and scientists building systems that can reason and act across enterprise, robotics and healthcare settings. The company is positioning open models as a foundation for broader AI deployment.

NVIDIA Announces NemoClaw for the OpenClaw Community
NVIDIA unveiled NemoClaw, a stack for the OpenClaw agent platform that lets users deploy Nemotron models and the OpenShell runtime with a single command. NVIDIA said the package adds privacy and security controls for more trustworthy autonomous agents.

NVIDIA Launches Space Computing, Rocketing AI Into Orbit
NVIDIA said its accelerated computing platforms are being extended to orbital data centers, geospatial intelligence and autonomous space operations. The announcement marks a push to bring data-center-class AI performance into space-constrained environments.

NVIDIA Releases Vera Rubin DSX AI Factory Reference Design and Omniverse DSX Digital Twin Blueprint With Broad Industry Support
NVIDIA released a reference design for Vera Rubin DSX AI factories and made its Omniverse DSX digital twin blueprint generally available. The company said the combination should help customers design and simulate large AI infrastructure before deployment.

NVIDIA Launches Vera CPU, Purpose-Built for Agentic AI
NVIDIA introduced the Vera CPU, which it described as the first processor purpose-built for agentic AI and reinforcement learning. The company claims the chip delivers higher efficiency and faster performance than traditional rack-scale CPUs.

NVIDIA Launches BlueField-4 STX Storage Architecture With Broad Industry Adoption
NVIDIA announced BlueField-4 STX, a modular storage architecture designed for long-context reasoning in agentic AI. The system is intended to help enterprises and cloud providers deploy accelerated storage infrastructure more easily.

NVIDIA Vera Rubin Opens Agentic AI Frontier
NVIDIA said the Vera Rubin platform is entering full production with seven new chips to scale large AI factories. The company is presenting Rubin as a key platform for the next stage of agentic AI infrastructure.

NVIDIA DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games
NVIDIA unveiled DLSS 5, calling it its biggest graphics breakthrough since real-time ray tracing. The company says the new version pushes image quality and performance further through AI-powered rendering.

From Simulation to Production: How to Build Robots With AI
In a GTC blog post, NVIDIA outlined how its latest open models, simulation tools and embedded compute are being combined to speed cloud-to-robot workflows. The message was that robotics development is moving toward a more integrated software-to-deployment pipeline.

More Than Meets the Eye: NVIDIA RTX-Accelerated Computers Now Connect Directly to Apple Vision Pro
NVIDIA said CloudXR 6.0 now integrates natively with visionOS, allowing RTX-powered simulators and professional 3D applications to connect directly to Apple Vision Pro. The announcement broadens NVIDIA’s position in immersive enterprise and design workflows.

NVIDIA, Telecom Leaders Build AI Grids to Optimize Inference on Distributed Networks
NVIDIA used a blog post to argue that telecom networks are becoming a new layer for distributed inference. The company highlighted operator activity in the U.S. and Asia as AI-native applications expand to more devices, users and agents.

GTC Spotlights NVIDIA RTX PCs and DGX Sparks Running Latest Open Models and AI Agents Locally
NVIDIA said GTC 2026 showcased a new category of “agent computers,” including RTX PCs and DGX systems running open models and AI agents locally. The pitch is that personal computing is shifting toward on-device generative and agentic AI.

Snap Decisions: How Open Libraries for Accelerated Data Processing Boost A/B Testing for Snapchat
NVIDIA highlighted Snap’s use of open NVIDIA data-processing libraries on Google Cloud to speed product development and experimentation. The post positions accelerated analytics as a way to make large-scale A/B testing faster and more efficient.

Smooth Moves: 90 Frames-Per-Second Virtual Reality Arrives on GeForce NOW
NVIDIA said GeForce NOW now supports 90 fps streaming for compatible VR headsets. The update is aimed at making cloud gaming smoother and more immersive for virtual reality users.

Image: NVIDIA

Sam Altman

Executives such as  of OpenAI framed AI as a transformative force capable of reshaping productivity and economic growth, while emphasizing the need for global coordination on safety. Altman’s comments placed OpenAI at the center of debates around who should build and govern frontier models—especially as governments seek greater oversight.

Satya Nadella

At the same time,  highlighted AI’s rapid enterprise adoption, positioning it as a general-purpose technology comparable to electricity or the internet. Nadella pushed back against overly restrictive regulation, arguing that innovation and deployment must move faster than legislation if economies are to fully benefit from AI advances.

Sundar Pichai

From Google’s perspective, Sundar Pichai stressed the importance of responsible AI development and long-term governance frameworks. His remarks reflected the tension faced by companies that are both aggressively investing in large models and simultaneously under pressure from regulators across the U.S. and Europe.

Jensen Huang

The competitive undercurrent was impossible to miss. Jensen Huang underscored how access to compute, energy, and advanced chips has become a strategic advantage, reinforcing the idea that AI leadership is increasingly tied to infrastructure dominance. In this framing, AI is not just software—it is a geopolitical asset.

Alex Karp

Political and security dimensions were brought into sharper focus by Alex Karp, who argued that AI development is inseparable from national security and democratic resilience. His comments echoed broader concerns voiced by policymakers attending Davos, including the risk that authoritarian regimes could leverage AI faster and with fewer constraints.

Elon Musk

Even when not formally on stage, Elon Musk loomed large over discussions. Musk’s long-standing warnings about AI risk, combined with his newer role as founder of xAI, made him a frequent reference point in debates over open versus closed models and the concentration of power in AI development.

Taken together, the Davos discussions revealed a clear divide. While tech leaders broadly agree that AI will redefine economies and societies, they remain deeply split on how fast it should scale, who should regulate it, and who ultimately controls the technology. At Davos, AI was no longer just a topic of innovation—it became a competitive and political battleground that will shape global tech policy for years to come.

Material by Iva Abadjievа

Image: Sam Altman -World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell

Image: Satya Nadella – World Economic Forum/ Valeriano DiDomenico

Image: Sundar Pichai – World Economic Forum/ Greg Beadle

Image: Jensen Huang – World Economic Forum / Thibaut Bouvier

Image: Alex Karp – World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell

Image: Elon Musk – World Economic Forum / Ciaran McCrickard

Material by Yana Petrova

Image: Freepic

Material by Yana Petrova

Image: Freepic

Over the course of three weeks, teams of students from the Technical University of Sofia, the Faculty of Economics of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and the Faculty of Physics and Technology of Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski” worked on real business cases provided by companies – members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria (AmCham). The unique format of the Hackathon encourage innovative thinking and application of academic knowledge in a real business environment.

Paysafe was pleased to support the hackathon for the first year

Mentors from the company were Anita Yanudova, Manager Consumer Duty Product Governance and Dimitar Ivanov, Senior Product Manager, Consumer Risk.

“This was an opportunity to get out of the routine, meet young talent and check our watch by meeting young and creative people who are an “incubator” for new ideas, and at the same time contribute our experience and knowledge,”

they said.

“As mentors, we wanted to create a sense of teamwork where everyone has something to contribute. We encouraged the students to share their strengths and take on the tasks best suited to them, guiding them through the stages of case development.”

New skills and challenges

For the participants, the Hackathon turned out to be much more than a competition – with the support of Paysafe mentors, they met real business challenges, learned about methodologies such as design thinking and lean startup – tools for innovation and rapid adaptation in a real business environment, and learned to make decisions quickly, flexibly and customer-oriented.

“I learned to apply new methodologies to solve problems. This will be of great benefit to me in future projects and innovation processes. Technically, I had the opportunity to learn about new tools for rapid prototyping and collaboration, as well as to upgrade my knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence and automation – areas that are increasingly relevant and necessary in modern business,”

said Alexander Hristov, a student in Telecommunications at TU-Sofia.

The team was faced with a challenging task – to work towards promoting sustainable consumption through FinTech solutions – a complex topic, but one with huge social potential. They created an idea for an app that integrates with payment systems, identifies sustainable, ethical and socially responsible merchants and rewards consumers for their choices.

“We conducted in-depth research to understand how people perceive ethical and sustainable products and what would make them prefer them. Based on this, we created an open access app that FinTech companies can integrate – it identifies sustainable merchants and rewards consumers with points for every purchase with them.”

“One of the biggest challenges was figuring out when we had enough information to move forward. Each answer led to three more questions. In such moments Anita and Dimitar, our mentors and with years of experience in the fintech company, were extremely important – they guided us and helped us make the right decisions when we felt lost,”

adds Isabel, a third-year student of Computer Engineering at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

Participants discovered not only new knowledge but also new confidence. 

“They should never stop asking their mentors for information and never give up, because if they even once think of giving up, they are doomed to failure,”

advised Ivan Damyanov, a student of Telecommunications at TU-Sofia.

Ina Petrova, a first-year student in Cyber Security at TU-Sofia, sums up the motivation for participating in the competition of many:

“The desire to learn something new and get to know the work process up close motivated me to participate in the competition.”

What inspires young students? 

Although all are highly engaged in their academic projects, students also have a variety of personal interests. Ivan enjoys Airsoft and Paintball competitions, solving puzzles, video games and collecting coins from around the world. Isabel has a passion for solving complex problems and analyzing data, always looking to better understand the world around her. Alexander combines his technical interests with his creative passions for drawing and music, valuing teamwork and quick decision making. And Ina is determined to grow in the IT field, striving for constant improvement and adaptation in a rapidly changing technological world.

By supporting initiatives like AmCham Hackathon 2025, Paysafe is not only investing in the future of innovation – it is empowering the very people who will shape it. This partnership is further proof that when industry, education and motivation meet, the results are creative solutions that move the world forward.

The material and images are provided by Paysafe

Want to know what to expect this year, which project areas are in development, the challenges ahead, and why participating in festivals and events matters so much? You’ll find all that and more in the special video they recorded for DevStyleR.

A fierce and dynamic competition is on the horizon, so make sure to mark April 25 and 26, 2025, in your calendar. That’s when the milestone 10th edition of the FISSION 2025 scientific festival will take place. Young talents will compete in various categories, including biomedicine, ecology, computer science, mathematics, physics, and engineering. There’s even a special category reserved for younger students in grades five through seven.

The video is provided by the FISSION 2025 organizers from the American College of Sofia. 

Stanislav Tashev is a final-year student at the Professional High School of Computer Programming and Innovation in Burgas, a Microsoft Certified Trainer, an active member of the “Association of Graduates of the Professional High School of Computer Programming and Innovation,” and plays a key role in organizing the upcoming edition of Code Of The Future. His focus is on actively supporting the development of young programmers by sharing his experience and expertise.

We talked with Stoyan and Stanislav Tashev about the upcoming edition of the Code Of The Future 25* hackathon.

How did the idea for the “Code of the Future” hackathon come about?

Stoyan: The idea for the “Code of the Future” hackathon was born from our personal experience as participants in many similar competitions. In the past, we have taken part in hackathons, even winning top prizes, but we were always interested in how such an event is organized from the organizers’ perspective. The best way to find out was to organize a hackathon ourselves. We decided to create “Code of the Future” and offer a platform that combines all the good practices we’ve seen with our own innovative ideas.

How do you determine the themes of the competition?

Stanislav: Our main goal is for the competition’s theme to be a surprise and announced on the day of the event, to ensure fairness and equal conditions for all participants. In last year’s edition, we gave each sponsor the opportunity to propose their own theme if they wished. This year, we’ll make the format even more interesting—sponsors will again be able to suggest themes, but at the opening ceremony, we’ll choose only one at random. This adds an element of surprise not only for the participants but also for us as organizers.

How prepared do participants need to be? What advice would you give them?

Stoyan: The hackathon is open to everyone, regardless of their level of technical preparation. We changed the evaluation criteria to place more emphasis on ideas rather than technical execution. Of course, participants will need to create a prototype (MVP) and validate their idea, but we encourage greater creativity and innovation. Our advice is to spend enough time developing the idea rather than jumping straight into coding. From personal experience, we know the first day is best used for generating the idea and distributing tasks within the team. Everyone can contribute according to their skills—some can do market research while others focus on development.

What is different about the 2025 edition?

Stanislav: Besides the new approach to choosing the theme, this year we’ve listened to the feedback from the previous edition to improve the participants’ experience as much as possible. We have prepared numerous surprises, more conveniences—including more food and coffee—as well as improvements to the mentorship program.

What is your favorite part of organizing the competition?

Stoyan: It’s very hard to pick just one aspect, but one of the most exciting moments is when we first hear the participants’ ideas and have the opportunity to discuss them. It’s a special moment when you see creativity and innovation come to life.

What challenges do participants most frequently encounter, and how do they overcome them?

Stanislav: Participants often face various challenges—from technical problems to a lack of clarity about how to structure their idea. That’s why, as in previous years, we’ll provide mentors. This year, however, we are adding a mentor reservation system so that teams can have personalized time with a mentor who focuses on their idea, presentation, and validation. Mentors won’t write code for them, but they will provide valuable guidance throughout the process.

How does the hackathon influence students’ skills and the projects they develop?

Stoyan: The hackathon is an excellent opportunity to develop skills in innovation, idea validation, and creating an MVP—a minimum viable product. This is a crucial process for starting a successful startup. Participants gain experience in presenting their ideas, analyzing the market, and creating practical solutions.

Can the projects be realistically applied in a business environment?

Stanislav: Absolutely. We even have an example of a project that started as a hackathon idea and is currently being successfully implemented in a business environment as a startup project. This shows that the innovative solutions created during the competition can find real-world applications.

Every year, the event brings together young people from different countries to present academic research projects. FISSION is organized by a select group of ACS students under the guidance of the school administration and Dr. Krasimira Chakurova, ACS physics teacher.

Participants are students from 5th to 12th grade, from different parts of Bulgaria and the world.

During the science fair, all students have the opportunity to submit projects in categories ranging from biomedical, biological and chemical sciences to ecology and environmental sciences, computer science, mathematics, physics and engineering.

Hotel accommodation is provided for all teams coming from outside of Sofia on the evening of April 12, and food and beverages are available for all participants and their supervisors during the event.

Each project is assessed by a panel of established scientists and experts. After the projects are carefully reviewed and evaluated, the jury awards students with “Best Project” Award or “Honorable Mention”Award in each category.

The event schedule includes campus tours, workshops and lectures for participants and their supervisors by guest speakers and scholars, and various networking opportunities.

The event is also open to visitors and guests on April 13, 2024.

Last year’s edition of FISSION was a huge success and was the first in-person edition since 2019. 104 students, together with their supervisors, presented a total of 55 projects, and many visitors had the opportunity to take a look at the projects and enjoy the event schedule.

This year, FISSION International Science Fair will once again welcome participants from all over the world and encourage them to inquire and inspire. The registration for the event continues to be open in February.

More information can be found on the FISSION website, as well as on Facebook and Instagram.

Read more:
1. Amazon Announces New Updates to Amazon Bedrock
2. GitHub Opens New Group for AI-Focused Open Source Projects
3. The CodeIT 2024 Team for the Competition and the Journey into the World of Programming

The phones will use the built-in Gemini Nano, Google’s most efficient model for large languages, and gain access to Gemini Pro and Imagen 2 technologies for text-to-image conversion via the cloud.

“We will reshape the technology landscape, we will open a new chapter without barriers to unleash your potential,” TM Roh, the president of Samsung’s mobile experience division, told a crowd in San Jose, California.

Live Translate

Live Translate is one of the first features announced that will translate phone calls in real time in 13 languages and 17 dialects.

New New New

Users will have the capability to utilize AI-driven summariza tion and classification functions within Samsung’s native applications like Notes, Voice Recorder, and the keyboard.

The Imagen model will empower users to execute intricate photo editing operations within the Gallery app, offering a tool that can enhance photo quality but also raises concerns about the potential for creating deceptive images.

Chat Assist

Chat Assist is the next feature that Samsung has introduced. Chat Asyst takes on the editorial role when writing messages – both in formal and informal environments.

Circle To Search

Additionally, the upcoming phones will feature Google’s “Circle To Search,” enabling individuals to encircle text snippets, segments of images, or videos to promptly retrieve search results related to the highlighted content.

Anticipated to hit the market by the end of January, these new phones promise enhanced functionalities and a seamless user experience.

For more details about the new features visit here.