By: Thomas Stahura
Sam Altman often says he knows within 10 minutes if he wants to work with someone. After such a meeting with Alex Blania, he was convinced of Alex’s exceptional abilities. Their initial chat quickly turned into a multi-hour walk where they discussed their ambitions, the future, and ultimately, the World project.
World.org is the online home of the World Foundation, a Cayman Islands company that vaguely aims to “create more inclusive and fair digital governance and economic systems,” aligned with several UN Sustainable Development Goals. The foundation operates under the umbrella of Tools for Humanity, a parent company chaired by Sam Altman.
Ok fine, another Altman for-profit-not-for-profit project with a complicated corporate structure full of platitudes. But what's the product here? How does it make money? That's where things get a little Black Mirror.
The company aims to authenticate real humans in the age of AI. By scanning your face using one of its orbs, your unique biometric data is added to the so-called “World Chain” (its Ethereum secured blockchain) and you are issued a World ID and free World Coin for verifying your humanity.
Once verified, you can join World App, a human only super app with its own app store, encrypted messaging platform, and crypto wallet.
As for the coin, 10% of its volume is already allocated to employees and another 10% to investors (most notably Andreessen Horowitz). World coin owners can send tokens to each other, vote on world foundation proposals, or sell. So far this year the coin’s value dropped 86%.
I mentioned last week the online human authentication problem is indeed a very real problem. However, I think this Youtube comment sums up World’s reception online:
“Can I scan and record your fingerprints [Sic] don't you worry what for, here's 10 bucks.”
So, if you’re wary of swapping your biometrics for crypto, you’re not alone. Good thing Worldcoin isn’t the only sheriff in town when it comes to proving you’re human. The digital frontier is already patrolled by the likes of Google’s reCAPTCHA (the service that has us clicking all the traffic lights), Cloudflare’s bot-fighting checkmark boxes, and Jumio’s ID verification scanner. Each offers a different flavor of the same promise: keep the bots at bay, let the real people in. But as AI gets smarter, so do the bots, and the arms race for digital authenticity will likely never end.
For startups, this means the old playbook — collect data quietly, hope no one notices — doesn’t cut it anymore. Today, you’re building a product and cultivating trust. That means being upfront about how you’re protecting data and keeping out the fakes, whether you’re using open-source code, third-party products, or just informative English explanations. If you can’t show your users how you’re protecting their privacy and their identity, someone else will — and they’ll win the trust war and those customers.
But beyond the technical and privacy concerns, Worldcoin’s pitch is more than just about proving you’re human — it’s about what you get for it. It's the idea of rewarding people for their mere existence, rather than their labor. Or in other words, a form of Universal Basic Income (UBI).
Andrew Yang mainstreamed the term during his 2020 presidential run. He proposed a “freedom dividend” of $1,000 per month for each adult American citizen. A very popular idea for obvious reasons.
That same year, Altman conducted a study giving 3,000 individuals $1,000 per month over a 3 year period, the largest study of its kind. The results concluded UBI provided immediate financial relief and increased personal freedom, but did not lead to lasting financial security or major changes in employment quality.
Altman has since proposed a new idea, Universal Basic Compute. Essentially giving everyone access to a share of AI computing power instead of regular cash. People could use, sell, or donate their allotted compute. Meanwhile, Elon Musk envisions a future of Universal High Income. Brought about by AI automated abundance. How these projects will be paid for remains to be seen.
It seems the real story here is about the age-old tension between privacy and progress. We want the benefits of AI, UBI, and digital identity, but we’re not quite ready to trade our faces for a few tokens and a promise. The question isn’t “can we build it?” since we know we can, it's “should we scan it?”
Altman knew in 10 minutes that Alex Blania was worth betting on. The rest of us get an orb, a coin, and a promise. For Worldcoin to work, that has to be enough.