Exclusive. Sam Altman's crypto project has raised over $100 million

Who doesn't know Sam Altman? For the past few months and the worldwide success of the conversational robot ChatGPT, everyone has been talking about nothing but the 37-year-old American, who has become THE new star of artificial intelligence.

But alongside ChatGPT and his start-up OpenAI, Sam Altman is working on a crypto project that could also make a lot of noise: Worldcoin. Launched in 2020, the project, which has already raised $25m in 2021, then $100m in 2022, has, according to our information, closed a new round of funding, higher than the previous one. (Contacted, his team did not wish to comment)

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In February, The Block had mentioned this new round of financing with a target of $120 million. According to our information, it has exceeded this target and is now in excess of $200 million. "Given the success of ChatGPT, investors are thinking that if Sam Altman is in the Worldcoin project, it's bound to take off too", explains a source.

OpenAI, the company that develops ChatGPT and in which Microsoft has invested, is valued at 29 billion dollars. Worldcoin, meanwhile, is said to be valued at more than $3 billion.

The Worldcoin project

Founded in 2020, the Worldcoin project answers a simple question: how do you ensure that a person is real or not in the digital space, especially in the age of artificial intelligence?

The ambition of its creators is to create digital identities for every individual over the age of 18, based on a protocol that protects privacy. To achieve this, Worldcoin has developed a machine that scans the human iris (the famous "Orb", designed by a former Apple designer).

This is said to be so accurate that it guarantees the uniqueness of each person. Worldcoin assures that sensitive data is protected through the use of proven cryptographic techniques, such as zero-knowledge proof.

Currently, each volunteer who agrees to have his or her iris scanned by one of these machines (which can be found just about anywhere in the world by geolocating via the World App mobile app) receives 25 worldcoins, the cryptocurrency created for the occasion.

In time, this could become a governance token, but this point is still very unclear.

Volunteers' worldcoins are currently blocked in the app, but according to a source close to its community, the cryptocurrency could be officially launched "by the summer". According to Worldcoin figures, more than 1.5 million people have already had their irises scanned.