OpenAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) company co-founded and led by Sam Altman, has launched Worldcoin from Tools For Humanity, a cryptocurrency-based universal basic income and identity verification company co-founded by Sam Altman. It is reported that partnership negotiations are underway with .
Bloomberg recently reported that the two companies are negotiating a partnership that would see OpenAI provide AI solutions and services to Worldcoin, resulting in additional synergies in the future.
The partnership between OpenAI and Worldcoin is almost certain to come under additional regulatory scrutiny given Altman’s position within both companies.
Per Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania said in an interview with Bloomberg:
“I think it’s just Sam. “It’s a lot more attention than you would normally face as a company of that size or a project of that size.”
It’s unclear exactly what Blania meant by these comments, as Worldcoin currently has an average of 2 million users per day and is one of the most active universal basic income and identity verification services in the world.
Related: Worldcoin has 10 million users, 70 million transactions and at least 13 goats purchased.
Controversy and regulatory scrutiny are nothing new for either company. OpenAI’s recent merger outlasted threats by European Union authorities to investigate its partnership with Microsoft, ultimately avoiding the charges altogether.
And Worldcoin has been banned in Portugal, Kenya and Spain in the first three months of 2024 alone.
Worldcoin has spent most of 2024 so far expanding its operations. As Cointelegraph recently reported, the company launched its own blockchain, a layer 2 solution that prioritizes verified Worldcoin users (humans) over bots.
On the cryptocurrency side, Worldcoin recently announced that it will increase its supply of WLD tokens by 36 million (currently worth about $196 million) over the next six months as part of a sale to select institutions.
This comes as the token continues to grow in popularity, at least as far as distribution is concerned. Semafor reports that it is currently facing a shortage, despite having between 300 and 500 of the company’s “spheres” in the field.
Orbs are hardware that Worldcoin uses to register and verify a digital identity by scanning a user’s iris (the part of the human eye that is considered unique, like a fingerprint). People who sign up for the service in areas where the service is available can receive 10 WLD tokens by scanning their eyes. As of the time this article was published, it’s currently trading at $4.81, and you can get two more each month thereafter.