Worldcoin, Sam Altman's project to build an identity and financial network by giving away free crypto tokens to people who agree to get their irises scanned, has launched in several cities around the world.
OpenAI's Altman and Worldcoin co-founders Alex Blania and Max Novendstern, say that 4.4 billion people lack a legal, digitally-verifiable identity, hindering their ability to access the global economy and things like government aid, financial services and healthcare.
Worldcoin has set itself the ambitious target of creating "universal access to the global economy regardless of country or background" and enabling "global democratic processes" in the age of AI.
To do this, it developed the Worldcoin token that is freely distributed to people "just for being a unique individual". The token, along with other digital assets and traditional currencies can be used for payments and transfers globally via a World App.
To prove their uniqueness and get the token, people have their eyeballs scanned by a piece of hardware called "The Orb".
The founders claim that the project could not only increase economic opportunity but also scale a reliable approach for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, and eventually provide a potential foundation for AI-funded universal basic income.
After securing $115 million in funding in May, the project has now migrated to the OP Mainnet, unveiled plans to scale Orb sign ups to more than 35 cities across 20 countries and released the World ID SDK.
In tandem, a subsidiary has minted and released the Worldcoin token to millions of eligible people who participated in the beta - meaning that it is now transactable on the blockchain.