OpenAI and Worldcoin are reportedly talking partnership

When you lead the most influential AI company in the world and also co-founded a global iris-scanning crypto project, bringing them together feels almost inevitable.

OpenAI is in talks to partner with Worldcoin, the proof-of-personhood and crypto startup operated by Tools for Humanity, according to a recent report from Bloomberg. The deal would reportedly involve OpenAI providing artificial intelligence solutions and services to Worldcoin, with room for deeper collaboration down the road.

Long lines, Orb shortages, and regulatory bans

Worldcoin is best known for its silver Orbs, custom spherical hardware devices that scan human retinas to create a unique digital identity. The goal is simple: prove you are a human online, not an AI bot.

People seem eager to sign up, largely because scanning your eyes earns you 10 free WLD tokens, followed by two more every month. According to Semafor, despite having between 300 and 500 Orbs currently deployed globally, the company is facing a hardware shortage.

Worldcoin claims roughly two million daily active users and has logged over 70 million transactions across 10 million registered users. It recently rolled out its own Layer-2 blockchain designed to prioritize verified humans over automated bots. Financially, it also revealed plans to sell 36 million WLD tokens from its treasury to select institutions over the next six months, an amount worth roughly $196 million.

Yet the eye-scanning operation has alarmed watchdogs worldwide. During the first three months of 2024 alone, regulators in Portugal, Kenya, and Spain issued bans or temporary suspensions against Worldcoin.

The Sam Altman factor

OpenAI has plenty of regulatory headaches of its own. It only recently managed to dodge an official European Union antitrust probe into whether Microsoft’s massive multi-billion dollar investment amounted to a backdoor merger.

Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania told Bloomberg that the project gets significantly more heat simply because of Sam Altman’s personal involvement, far beyond what a startup of its size would normally face.

Now, putting both of Altman’s ventures under one tent is bound to raise red flags. Regulators will almost certainly question governance conflicts and scrutinize whether Worldcoin’s biometrics could ever cross paths with OpenAI’s data pipeline.

Why it matters

For everyday users, jumping in right now just to snag some free crypto looks risky. Worldcoin is preparing a massive $196 million institutional token sell-off, and several national privacy watchdogs have already hit the brakes on its iris collection. The barrier isn’t the tech; it’s surrendering sensitive biometric data for a fluctuating digital coin.

For the broader industry, Altman is essentially trying to solve the very problem OpenAI is accelerating. As AI agents become indistinguishable from humans, internet platforms will desperately need proof-of-humanity systems. Altman has positioned himself at both ends of this pipeline: generating the synthetic intelligence with OpenAI, and issuing the digital passports to filter it through Worldcoin.

We think this play is strategically brilliant on paper, but politically toxic. Putting both the generative engine and the human verification registry under the influence of the same founder creates a glaring concentration of power. Regulators were already skeptical of both entities individually; watching them join forces will almost certainly trigger an aggressive pushback.