Worldcoin spikes 40% as OpenAI reportedly plans biometric X rival

OpenAI-linked token Worldcoin spiked 40% on Wednesday following a report that the artificial intelligence firm is working on a bot-free social media platform that requires “proof of personhood.”

According to a Tuesday Forbes report citing sources familiar with the matter, OpenAI is aiming to develop a “humans-only platform” as a point of difference from other social media services on the market.

Still in its early stages, sources state that a small team of around 10 people is building the platform to compete with X, and that it has reportedly been in development since early 2025, according to tech news outlet The Verge.

Forbes’ sources claimed that any “proof of personhood” would likely be verified via Apple’s Face ID or the World Orb eyeball scanner, which has also been utilized as part of World, the blockchain and crypto project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The report coincided with a 40% price pump for Worldcoin ($WLD) to $0.63; however, the price has since pulled back to $0.54 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko data.

Amid a broader crypto downturn in the latter half of 2025, $WLD has had a grim price performance, down almost 70% over the past 12 months.

The World Orb, which has seen criticism over its implications for personal data privacy, scans a person’s face and their iris to verify that they are a unique human. It is a key part of onboarding genuine users to the WorldCoin ecosystem and helps establish a World ID.

Worldcoin’s World Orb. Source: Cointelegraph

Details are sparse on how the reported social media platform could be integrated with OpenAI’s suite of products or potentially with $WLD. It is believed, however, that OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be integrated to help users create content such as videos or photos.

Altman has previously criticized bot activity on X and other social media platforms. Back in September, he said the current social media experience in general felt “fake” due to the sheer number of bot-like posts and comments.