- Worldcoin project also starts in Austria
Worldcoin, the cryptocurrency project by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, will soon be available in Austria. This was announced by the German operating company Tools for Humanity in Munich. Interested parties can now have their eyes scanned at three locations in the Austrian capital, Vienna, to obtain a "World ID" that can be used online to verify their humanity, distinguishing them from software robots generated by artificial intelligence. So far, around 6.3 million people in 39 states have taken advantage of this.
The "World ID" is linked to the cryptocurrency "Worldcoin" (WLD), which is distributed in small amounts to regular users. This digital currency is also traded on certain cryptocurrency exchanges and can be exchanged for traditional currencies. However, the WLD token has recently lost significant value. In March, the price briefly exceeded 10 euros, but by the end of July, it was only trading at 2.10 euros.
The leading figures behind Worldcoin are American AI star Sam Altman, co-founder of the world-leading AI startup OpenAI, and German physicist Alexander Blania. The project is currently mainly funded by early investments from venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital.
Friederike Lumbroso-Baumgartner, General Manager at Tools for Humanity for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, told dpa that the initial goal of the project was to "quickly and ambitiously expand to other markets". "We want to enable as many people as possible to get the 'World ID' as quickly as possible," she said. In the future, they will work hard on further innovations.
Lumbroso-Baumgartner emphasized that the "World ID" and the Worldcoin project fully comply with all requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Before launching in Vienna, they also consulted with the Austrian data protection authority.
Despite Worldcoin not collecting any additional personal data such as name, date of birth, and address for the "World ID" iris scan, the concept has sparked significant skepticism in politics and among authorities. In Europe, the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision is responsible for monitoring. The operating company recently moved from Erlangen to Munich.
The "World ID" is associated with the cryptocurrency Worldcoin (WLD), which can be exchanged for traditional currencies as its value is also traded on certain cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite the recent decrease in WLD's value, users still receive small amounts of the digital currency after having their eyes scanned for the "World ID" verification process.
