OpenAI social network could tap World's eyeball-scanning Orbs: report

Two projects developed by Sam Altman may come together to create a humans-only social media platform, according to a report from Forbes.

OpenAI, the AI studio co-founded by Altman, may use World's eyeball-scanning Orb to verify that users of a proposed social network are in fact human, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources.

World, which has given millions of people its WLD cryptocurrency to sign up to its network by submitting to verification-by-Orb, was developed by Tools for Humanity, a company co-founded by Altman.

The small team developing OpenAI's new social network is also considering using Apple’s Face ID to verify humans with biometric testing, the report added.

OpenAI's possible strategy is to leverage the success of ChatGPT and Sora to create a social media platform free of the bots that plague networks like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok, Forbes said. In April, The Verge reported OpenAI was working on a social network.

World did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The startup, formerly Worldcoin, issues World IDs, to users who prove their humanity by undergoing in-person Orb scans. The project has been trying to scale its own user base via its World App, and has signed up more than 17 million users, according to World's website.

In the past World's scanning of people's eyes to prove their "personhood" has been met with scrutiny from some privacy advocacy groups. Late last year, World teamed up with web3 gaming studio Mythical Games to help separate bots from humans.