Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, Monday, together with two co-founders, officially introduced the Worldcoin crypto project, with the primary goal of providing users with a verified digital identity and access to a financial network, AFP reported.
“The Worldcoin Foundation today announced that Worldcoin, a project co-founded by Sam Altman, Alex Blania and Max Novendstern, is now live,” read a statement on Worldcoin’s website.
Worldcoin’s unique feature is the provision of a private digital identity called a “World ID.”
To obtain this identity, individuals must register in person, where their iris pattern is scanned using an “Orb” imaging device to verify their authenticity as a genuine and distinct person, according to Worldcoin’s statement.
The founders emphasised that verified private digital identities will play a vital role in distinguishing humans from AI in online interactions.
Alongside the digital identity aspect, the company also launched its Worldcoin token, a cryptocurrency that can now be transacted on the blockchain in specific locations, made available to millions of participants who took part in the beta phase.
Worldcoin’s grand vision, as stated on its website, is to establish the “world’s largest identity and financial public network.”
“If successful, we believe Worldcoin could drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes, and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded (universal basic income),” Altman and Blania said in a letter posted to Twitter.
