Altman's World Coin eyes a biometric social network to kill off the Bots

By Matthew Griffin Security and Privacy 25th January 2026

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

As AI agents flood social media, biometric verification becomes the critical infrastructure for preserving digital trust and human-centric online networks.

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World Network (formerly Worldcoin) WLD token surged more than 27% on Wednesday after a Forbes report linked the controversial crypto project to OpenAI’s broader effort to fight bots online.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wants to build a “biometric social network” to help online platforms verify users and weed out AI-generated accounts, Forbes reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Sources familiar with the project’s development told Forbes that the OpenAI team has considered using Apple’s Face ID or the World Orb, which scans a person’s iris to provide a unique identity.

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World is the crypto project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and raised $135 million in a token sale to a16z and Bain Capital Crypto last year. The core premise of the project is World ID, a decentralised and privacy-focused identity system that uses the orb, a custom-built biometric device that scans users’ irises and generates unique identifiers in compliance with privacy standards.

The token spiked shortly after the report, briefly outperforming most major cryptocurrencies, even though it didn’t confirm any formal collaboration between OpenAI and World.

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The World Network has drawn both curiosity and criticism since its launch. While the project claims to have verified millions of people worldwide, it has also faced regulatory pushback, including a temporary suspension in Kenya and inquiries in UK on how it processes personal data.

Still, the idea of tying biometric verification to online identity continues to gain traction, especially as generative AI tools and AI Agents flood social media with spam and misinformation.

How does World Network use biometric technology to address the rise of AI-generated misinformation and bots? World Network utilizes a custom-built biometric device called the Orb to scan users’ irises and generate unique decentralized identifiers, creating a privacy-focused “biometric social network” designed to verify human users and weed out AI-generated accounts.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.

An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

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