WLD surges 27%! Rumor has it that OpenAI is developing a "biometric social platform," could World rise to the top?

Founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the highly anticipated yet controversial cryptocurrency project World Network and its native token Worldcoin (WLD) saw a surge of over 27% earlier today (29). The driving force behind this rally stems from a report by Forbes, which suggests that the project is very likely to become OpenAI’s weapon in combating “AI internet armies.”

As generative AI technology rapidly advances, the internet is flooded with indistinguishable bots and spam messages. The report quotes insiders saying that Sam Altman plans to build a “biometric community platform” aimed at helping major online platforms accurately verify user identities to eliminate the rampant AI-generated accounts.

The news indicates that the OpenAI team is evaluating multiple technical solutions to implement this plan. In addition to considering integrating Apple’s Face ID technology, World Network’s proprietary iris scanning device “Orb” is also named as one of the core options. This means that World Network’s unique iris recognition technology is highly likely to be incorporated into OpenAI’s broader ecosystem.

World Network is a cryptocurrency project co-founded by Sam Altman. Last year, it successfully raised $135 million through token sales from Silicon Valley venture giants a16z and Bain Capital Crypto.

The core element of the project is World ID, a decentralized digital identity system emphasizing privacy protection. It uses the “Orb” to scan users’ irises, generating a unique code that proves “the user is an independent and real human” without exposing personal data.

Although Forbes’ report did not confirm a formal partnership between OpenAI and World Network, the market reacted swiftly after the news broke, causing the price of Worldcoin (WLD) to spike sharply, temporarily outperforming mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Since its launch, World Network has been accompanied by intense attention and controversy. On one hand, the official claims to have verified millions of real users worldwide; on the other hand, the project has faced scrutiny from regulatory authorities in multiple countries due to its biometric data collection and personal data handling methods, including Kenya, which temporarily suspended operations, and the UK authorities, who have launched investigations into its data processing procedures.