Worldcoin, the blockchain-enabled proof-of-humanity project co-created by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has rebranded to ‘World’ and revealed a new version of its iris-scanning hardware.
The new Orb is powered by NVIDIA Jetson, the manufacturer’s dedicated AI computing hardware, with 30% fewer parts than its predecessor but capable of performing operations five times faster.
The World app is free to download, with users able to create a World ID. This iris-scanning hardware is then utilised to prove the humanity of the user, before allowing them to claim $WLD tokens.
What is Worldcoin?
Created by Tools for Humanity, World was conceptualised as a way for people to prove their existence – in an increasingly digital world that’s flooded with bots.
Launched in July 2023, these World Orbs have been met with scrutiny, with some concerned about its impact on privacy and uses for surveillance – though Altman and Tools for Humanity stress that it has been built from the ground up with both privacy and security at its core.
In March 2024, Altman announced that core components of the Orb would become open-source, with its code publicly available to be scrutinised and verified.
Tools for Humanity aim to use their new tool, Deep Face, to combat video AI deepfakes. The tool will verify a user’s identity for popular video calling apps, such as FaceTime, WhatsApp, and Zoom.
What does this mean for the blockchain aspects of World?
With an upgraded hardware unit and the advancements made with the Deep Face tool, there’s positive signs for the $WLD token – and the success or failure of Worldcoin will be a crucial litmus test of the privacy, security and user sovereignty that blockchain technology purports to serve.
World faced many regulatory concerns upon its debut, with many countries – including the UK – forbidding the company from operating its iris-scanning hardware. Should the upgraded hardware and the usefulness of the products that Tools for Humanity be proven to be beneficial, there is a hope this could change.
OpenAI revolutionised the internet as we know it through OpenAI and ChatGPT. What heights could World reach?
Bullish on web3. Competitive soul.