OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Collects IDR 1.5 Trillion Million For Cryptocurrency Projects

JAKARTA - Sam Altman, OpenAI's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), has raised $115 million in the Series C funding round led by Blockchain Capital for his co-found cryptocurrency project.

The project, named Worldcoin, aims to distribute crypto tokens to people "only because they become unique individuals". The project uses the device to scan eye slices to confirm the user's identity, after which they are given tokens for free.

Worldcoin has faced criticism for being considered to have privacy risks. Responding to Altman's tweet introducing the project in 2021, former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden tweeted, "Don't turn a eye."

According to the Worldcoin website, the token will not be available to people in the United States and several other countries.

The digital asset space is trying to gain its popularity again after the volatile 2022 which witnessed the failure of several crypto businesses, including the spectacular failure of FTX owned by Sam Bankman-Fried.

Investors such as a16z crypto, Bain Capital Crypto, and Distributed Global also participated in Worldcoin's latest funding.

Altman and OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, have been in the spotlight since late last year, with growing interest in artificial intelligence. He testified before a US Senate panel last week and advocated for regulation of the technology.