Sam Altman Rebrands Controversial Worldcoin Project as World, Announces Major Updates

Worldcoin, the controversial blockchain-based human ID project, has been renamed amid ongoing investigations in several countries. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the mastermind behind the initiative, revealed the rebranding to ‘World’ during a company event in San Francisco on October 17. Along with the new name, Altman also introduced a range of new initiatives aimed at expanding the project’s scope.

“As the scale of the project grows along with the importance of World ID’s proof of human protocol, the name ‘Worldcoin’ no longer encapsulates the mission of the project—to accelerate every human,” said an official blog by World. “World is truly a network of real, verified humans built to enable an optimistic future in which humans will continue to be at the center of AI progress.”

At the event Altman joined Alex Blania, the co-inventor of World, in announcing the developments that make for the new parts of the initiative.

New Orb Devices

The Orb devices that are used by World to collect eye scans of its users have been revamped alongside the new branding. The new Orb device is fueled by Nvidia’s Jetson chipset and is claimed to be five times more powerful than the previously used Orb devices while also being more compatible in nature with Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In the coming months, these updated Orbs will be made available at flagship Worldcoin locations and self-serve kiosks.

World Chain Mainnet

Altman’s Web3 initiative now has its own blockchain, called the World Chain, which is a Layer-2 blockchain built atop the Ethereum motherchain. During the event, the World team said that the World Chain is the only blockchain out there that has the largest number of already verified humans.

“World Chain is live. As of October 17, all 15 million World ID holders and World App users have either migrated or are in the process of migrating to World Chain,” the blog post detailing this angle of the Worldcoin rebranding noted.

This blockchain is aimed at prioritising onchain anonymous human verification – that will provide a platform for real humans to build together. The second focus area for the World Chain is to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies and subsequently contribute to democratising financial access and inclusion for more people.

Back in July this year, the Worldcoin Foundation had launched the first ever preview of this World Chain exclusively for developers.

World ID 3.0

With the introduction of World ID 3.0, ID holders can now store information from their physical NFC-enabled passports directly in the World App on their devices. The project assures that any data stored off-device will remain inaccessible to both the World Foundation and third parties.

This feature eliminates the need for users to share personal details such as age, nationality, or passport information when verifying their IDs, as this can now be done through their World IDs. Additionally, World ID 3.0 includes advanced technology designed to combat online fraud.

“World ID Deep Face is a cutting-edge technology that combines Orb imaging, personal data custody and Face Auth to enable people to verify that they are communicating with real humans and combat the rising threat of deep fakes, whether in real-time video or chat interactions,” the blog explained.

World App 3.0

Being advertised as a ‘super app for humans’, World App 3.0 has been created to scale the World Network to more users. Following on the footsteps of Telegram, the World App 3.0 also offers Mini Apps to enable third party developers to enter the Web3 ecosystem through the World portal.

“World App 3.0 has a more useful wallet featuring Vault and World Pay (where available), can hold World ID Credentials and features powerful new security and community features,” the blog highlighted.

Project History So Far

The true impact of these changes on Altman’s ambitious and controversial project will soon become evident. Launched in 2023, the Worldcoin initiative has onboarded over 6.9 million individuals from more than 160 countries as of Friday, October 18, using 844 active Orbs.

However, the Worldcoins’ use of eye scan technology has led to operational challenges in several countries, including Colombia, Kenya, and Spain.