There is a shakeup happening in technology and cryptocurrencies are part of it. On Friday, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman was unceremoniously deposed. The board of directors of the organization, which was founded as a nonprofit and later added a for-profit corporate division led by Altman, used conflicting words in its initial announcement of the termination.
Altman, apparently, “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board.” Little else was said, giving rise to speculation. OpenAI, the developers of several artificial intelligence tools, including the fastest app to gain a million users, ChatGPT, is often called “the biggest startup” in the world.
Cryptocurrencies, like almost every other industry, have been testing the waters of AI. This embryonic technology is expected to change the way developers build and audit apps, how merchants build wallets, and how users interact with it all. And one of the most important AI drivers of cryptocurrencies, Worldcoin, has an Altman connection.
Worldcoin, a protocol for universal digital IDs developed by Tools for Humanity, a company co-founded by Altman, initially saw its token crash in the news. Today, it’s up double digits after Microsoft hired Altman to lead internal AI R&D, a notable vote of confidence at a time when the backstory of the firing hasn’t been fully explained and publicly.
See also: Jeff Wilser – The untold story of the Worldcoin launch: inside the world
It’s also a sign that when Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI, it was investing in Altman. In many ways, Worldcoin speculators are also betting on the AI pioneer. While OpenAI and Worldcoin are completely different entities, there are close parallels between the two outside of the mutual connection point in Altman. (There is no reason to believe that Microsoft will have any dealings with WRD.)
Both AI and the cryptocurrency-based universal basic income (UBI) that Worldcoin is ultimately building are largely untested technologies. And both have equally skeptical, if distantly fascinated, audiences, with some thinking these technologies could tear society apart independently. They are moonshots, intended to catapult humanity as a whole forward.
And to a large extent, Worldcoin has been unfairly maligned. When it was announced in 2019, the world was shaken by the dystopian characteristics of the project. Not only was it founded by a man many believe could become the world’s first billionaire (who is building a bunker on an island), but the World ID system works by scanning people’s irises using a metal sphere called an Orb. . It’s straight out of science fiction.
Appearances aside, the project itself has a lot going for it. Some of the smartest people I know in tech are enthralled by what’s actually being built. Worldcoin developers are working on zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography solutions for more secure biometric scanning. No one has cracked the persistent online persona yet. While project leaders, including CEO Alex Blania, are sometimes spoken of in hushed tones.
See also: Worldcoin and the intellectual decline of venture capital
Worldcoin may end up being a tremendously costly mistake, as any startup could be. But there is a difference between evaluating a company on its merits and its aesthetics. And, to borrow a phrase from famous economist and internet blogger Tyler Cowen, most of the conversations around Worldcoin are simply “mood affiliation”: people saying what they think others want to hear.
It’s entirely possible, for example, that everyone I know who likes Worldcoin is simply interested in the idea of a project being built as a precautionary measure in anticipation of when (or if) AIs develop the ability to Create your own real or fake virtual AIs. identities and drown humanity… because they take Asimov too seriously.
Altman, who was primarily known for his time leading the successful startup incubator Y Combinator at the time Worldcoin was announced, saw his reputation explode after becoming the face of OpenAI. And his position only seemed to increase after he was fired.
He is also controversial. Some call Altman a “generational talent,” one of Silicon Valley’s biggest fundraisers. Others say he has “failed.” Loopt, a mobile app and tech startup, didn’t gain traction, but it earned it an exit of $43.4 million. As president, YC grew rapidly under Altman, but it is also said that he lost his soul. In 2014, he spent less than a Scaramucci as CEO of Reddit.
He is also believed to be in talks to found a chip foundry to compete with NVIDIA, with backing from controversial investors in the Middle East and China. He is the largest shareholder in HumanityAI, which is building a mobile, non-telephone AI “pin,” but has been largely ambivalent about launching it.
In other words, Altman’s association with Worldcoin is a matter of interest, but there is no chance that he will be heavily involved. It’s more important to focus on other factors, such as the privacy concerns that have been raised by the Kenyan government and MIT Tech. Citizen journalists have attempted to snoop around Orb’s proprietary technology with limited success.
It is no secret that technology is in a moment of transition. The so-called “techlash” is waning, in part because the promise of AI now seems revolutionary, when this time last year the technology barely seemed feasible. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and deserve scrutiny. There are some technologists who see Altman as a symbol of progress, who don’t even want to wait the 30 days for OpenAI’s new interim CEO to internally review Altman’s firing to join his camp.
And right now, Worldcoin could be seen as an imperfect barometer of these competing technophile and techno-skeptic currents in society. The only thing I ask of you, before you decide to love or hate the Orb (or invest in it), is to see what it can do.
