Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, on Monday, along with two co-founders, officially unveiled the Worldcoin crypto project, with the main goal of providing users with a verified digital identity and access to a financial network, AFP reported.
โThe Worldcoin Foundation announced today that Worldcoin, a project co-founded by Sam Altman, Alex Blania, and Max Novendstern, is now live,โ a statement on the Worldcoin website reads.
The unique feature of Worldcoin is the provision of a private digital identity called "World ID".
To obtain this identity, individuals must register in person, where their iris pattern is scanned with an "Orb" imaging device to verify their authenticity as a genuine and distinct person, according to the Worldcoin statement.
The founders stressed that verified private digital identities will play a vital role in distinguishing humans from AI in online interactions.
Along with the digital identity aspect, the company has also released its Worldcoin token, a cryptocurrency that can now be realized on the blockchain at specific locations, available to millions of participants who participated in the beta phase.
Worldcoin's grand vision, as stated on its website, is to establish the "world's largest public financial and identity network."
"If successful, we believe Worldcoin could dramatically increase economic opportunity, scale a trusted solution to distinguish humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes, and ultimately show a potential pathway to AI-funded (universal basic income)," Altman and Blania said in a letter posted on Twitter.
