OpenAI’s Sam Altman Nears $100mn Funding For Worldcoin Crypto Project

OpenAI boss Sam Altman is close to securing nearly $100 million in funding for his plan to use iris-scanning technology to create a secure global cryptocurrency called Worldcoin, in what would be a rare bright spot for a sector that has seen a bleak history. faced the year.

WorldCoin is in advanced talks to raise fresh cash as it prepares to launch in the next few weeks, according to three people with knowledge of the deal.

The group includes existing and new investors, said one of the people. Previous investors in the company include crypto funds from Khosla Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and internet entrepreneur Reid Hoffman.

Worldcoin was founded in 2019 by Altman and Alex Blania. The company has kept a low profile relative to OpenAI, the ChatGPT-maker that struck a multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft earlier this year.

But it has grand ambitions nonetheless, with plans to use eyeball-scanning technology to create a global identity system that could be used to gain free access to its own global currency, WorldCoin.

A $100 million token sale earlier last year brought the company’s total token supply to $3 billion, according to tech-focused publication Information.

But the 12 months since have hurt crypto tokens and projects. The collapse of Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November last year hastened a sharp drop in token prices and accelerated a wave of crypto company failures.

FTX was backed by venture capital funds Sequoia Capital, Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global Management and Thoma Bravo. Its implosion and the scandal surrounding Bankman-Fried encouraged many blue-chip funds to reduce investments in the sector.

“It is a bear market, a crypto winter. For a project in this sector to receive this amount of investment is remarkable,” said one of the people with direct knowledge of the fundraising.

WorldCoin executives said their approach tackles two problems posed by the growing sophistication of artificial intelligence: distinguishing between humans and bots, and providing a form of universal basic income that could offset job losses caused by AI. .

Key to the company’s plans is an orb that “uses iris biometrics to establish a person’s unique personality, then creates a digital World ID that can be camouflaged in a wide variety of daily applications without revealing the user’s identity.” Can be used from,” according to the company.

Once users establish their identity, they can receive free WorldCoin tokens, the company said.

WorldCoin has received criticism over a variety of issues, particularly biometric scanning posing a privacy risk. A section of its website dedicated to addressing concerns about the Orb claims that the company will not store iris scans and that the device will not harm users’ eyes.

After operating in beta, the company is now preparing to roll out its blockchain protocol and start recording transactions in the next six weeks.

Worldcoin declined to comment on the fundraising.