Amid escalating regulatory scrutiny, OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, is reportedly discussing a potential partnership with Worldcoin, another venture Altman co-founded. As detailed by Bloomberg, these talks could lead to significant synergies, providing AI solutions to the cryptocurrency and identity verification firm.

OpenAI and Worldcoin Discuss Collaboration; Increased Regulatory Watch Likely

According to Cointelegraph, OpenAI, an artificial intelligence startup co-founded and led by Sam Altman, is apparently in talks with "Tools For Humanity's Worldcoin," a cryptocurrency-based universal basic income and identity verification firm Altman created.

Bloomberg recently reported that the two companies are in talks to form a relationship in which OpenAI would provide AI solutions and services to Worldcoin, with the possibility of additional synergy in the future.

Given Altman's position at both companies, any collaboration between OpenAI and Worldcoin would likely be subject to further governmental oversight.

According to Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania, speaking to Bloomberg:

"I think it's just because of Sam. Just, like, much more attention than you would usually face as a company of that size or a project of that size."

What Blania meant by their words needs to be clarified. Still, Worldcoin is currently one of the world's most active universal basic income and identity verification systems, with an average of two million members daily.

Controversy and regulatory scrutiny are not new to any company. European Union officials recently threatened to probe OpenAI's cooperation with Microsoft as a merger, but the company finally avoided the claims.

Furthermore, Worldcoin was banned in Portugal, Kenya, and Spain in the first three months of 2024.

Worldcoin Expands Operations and Token Supply Amid Rising Popularity and Orb Scarcity

Worldcoin has spent the better part of 2024 looking to grow its activities. As Cointelegraph reported, the company has built its blockchain, a layer-2 solution that prioritizes confirmed Worldcoin users – humans — above bots.

On the cryptocurrency front, Worldcoin has stated that it will expand the supply of WLD tokens by 36 million — now valued at roughly $196 million — over the next six months as part of a sell-off to chosen institutions.

This comes as the token's popularity—at least in terms of distribution—increases. Semafor states that, despite having between 300 and 500 "orbs" in the field, the company is currently experiencing a scarcity.

Orbs are pieces of hardware Worldcoin uses to register and validate users' digital identities by scanning their irises, a unique feature of the human eye similar to fingerprints. Those who sign up for the service in locations where it is available can have their eyes scanned to obtain 10 WLD tokens (currently selling at $4.81 as of the time of publication), plus two more per month after that.

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