OpenAI’s Sam Altman raises $115 million in funding for Worldcoin crypto project

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman has raised $115 million in a Series C funding round led by Blockchain Capital for a cryptocurrency project he co-founded.

The project, Worldcoin, aims to distribute a crypto token to people “just for being a unique individual”. The project uses a device to scan irises to confirm their identity, after which they are given the tokens for free.

Worldcoin has faced criticism for perceived privacy risks. In response to Altman’s tweet introducing the project in 2021, former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden tweeted, “Don’t catalogue eyeballs”.