The line between human and artificial intelligence grows thinner by the day. What once existed only in science fiction now permeates our reality: AI creates images, voices, and videos so convincing that distinguishing between authentic human interaction and machine imitation becomes increasingly difficult.
Verifying human identity has suddenly become essential, not philosophical. When we game online, date through apps, or handle our finances, we need to know who's real. World provides this certainty through straightforward technology that confirms you're human while keeping your personal information private and your digital choices your own.
World Network
A simple plan has shaped World’s journey from concept to reality — one that continues to guide every aspect of our work:
- Build the foundation: Create a scalable, privacy-preserving proof-of-human system capable of withstanding even the most advanced AI systems
- Launch the network: Leverage this system to introduce a digital token, distributing ownership broadly and using it as a bootstrapping mechanism to reach critical mass
- Achieve utility: Reach the critical scale necessary for the network to develop genuine utility and establish sustainable network effects
- Decentralize: Shift our focus toward the decentralization of the entire infrastructure to ensure no single point of failure exists
- Reach global scale: Expand to billions of users worldwide, bringing the benefits of this human-centered network and AI to everyone, everywhere
This vision is becoming reality. In the last six months, we've nearly doubled the network to 26 million users with 12 million verified humans across the globe. What's driving this growth is people’s fundamental human need to be recognized as human, interact with confidence, and maintain control of their digital identity. World provides exactly that: a network where human connection remains authentic, privacy is protected by design, and technology serves people.
US Launch and Global Expansion
Until now, something significant has been missing from our global picture: the United States. On May 1, World and all related services will be available in America — the epicenter of AI innovation. This launch opens the complete World experience to Americans: verified World ID, Worldcoin (WLD) token access, and our growing ecosystem of applications built on the foundation of human verification.
But today's announcements extend beyond the U.S. and span our entire ecosystem: next-generation Orb technology, groundbreaking World ID partnerships, Worldcoin developments for sustainability, and World App 4.0. Each advancement reflects our core mission: building technology that distinguishes humans from AI in an era where that distinction grows increasingly vital.
The Proof of Human Challenge
One of the central challenges of computer science was the Turing test — determining whether we can distinguish between humans and machines online. For decades, this seemed like a distant theoretical concern. But sometime between the launch of ChatGPT and today, we clearly passed this threshold. AI systems now create convincing images, generate realistic voices, and produce videos indistinguishable from reality.
As these technologies become more sophisticated, we need a new approach: a reliable way to verify human uniqueness in an increasingly synthetic digital landscape. We explored countless potential solutions — using existing smartphone cameras, government ID infrastructure, established online accounts — hoping to avoid building custom hardware. Each approach seemed promising until tested against our core requirements: global accessibility, true inclusivity, and fundamental privacy protection.
After extensive exploration, we reached an unavoidable conclusion: we needed to build our own verification device. The Orb was born from this necessity — a purpose-built system that gives us complete control over the verification process while establishing a truly reliable, global proof-of-human network.
The Orb’s Evolution
The latest generation Orb — powered by NVIDIA Jetson processors running sophisticated AI models with visible light and infrared sensors — is now entering production. This marks a significant manufacturing milestone as we begin assembly in Richardson, Texas, enabling us to scale verification technology across America with unprecedented speed. The scale of our deployment plan is ambitious: 7,500 Orbs across the United States over the next 12 months — four times our current global deployment.
We've completely reimagined the verification experience with our new self-service flow. The system dynamically adapts to each individual, detecting height, providing intuitive guidance when needed (like reminding you to remove glasses), and ensuring data security throughout. Once verification completes, your data transfers securely to your device while being permanently deleted from the Orb.
Our most revolutionary announcement is the introduction of Orb Mini — at truly portable verification device. This compact system puts verification technology directly in people's hands, enabling us to scale by another factor of ten and bringing verification to billions worldwide. We're also developing modules that other manufacturers can integrate directly into their own products, further expanding accessibility.
Throughout the evolution from our earliest prototypes to today's sophisticated devices, our core mission remains unchanged: creating verification technology that works simply and effectively for everyone, regardless of who they are or where they live.
World ID: Making Proof of Human Useful
Since the beginning of this project, we identified three key areas where proof of human matters most: gaming, dating, and social networks. These sectors face increasingly urgent challenges as AI advances, each requiring a unique approach to human verification.
Traditional verification methods like phone numbers or CAPTCHA tests can no longer meet these challenges. World ID offers a privacy-preserving solution that confirms human uniqueness without compromising personal data, bringing authenticity back to digital experiences when it matters most.
Our partnerships in gaming and dating demonstrate how World ID can integrate into existing platforms to restore trust and authenticity. While social networks represent our third major focus area, we're still developing partnerships in this space to address the proliferation of synthetic content that threatens meaningful interaction.
Gaming: Preserving Fair Play in an AI World
Gaming stands at a critical turning point. In the past, AI bots served a helpful purpose — they provided practice opponents for new players and filled empty slots in multiplayer matches. If you were good at a game, the bots were useful because you could train against them.
But this dynamic is rapidly changing. Today's AI systems are closing the skill gap with human players, and tomorrow's will surpass even professional gamers across virtually every competitive game.
When achievement can no longer be distinguished from artificial performance, the entire competitive experience erodes. The question becomes: why develop skills in a game when AI can instantly perform better than even the most dedicated players?
Our partnership with Razer addresses this challenge by bringing human verification directly into the gaming ecosystem through three key initiatives:
- Integration of World ID with Razer ID, creating a standard for verified human gaming identity that works across multiple platforms and games
- Installation of Orbs in RazerStore locations throughout the United States , making verification convenient for gamers where they already gather
- Creation of the "League of Humans" tournament series, where all competitors are verified humans, ensuring fair competition in an environment free from AI participation
These initiatives help preserve gaming as a distinctly human domain — a space where skill, creativity, and competition remain meaningful even as AI capabilities continue to advance.
Dating: Ensuring Authentic Connection
Dating is perhaps the most intuitive application for human verification — the entire purpose is connecting with another real person. When users can't trust they're interacting with actual humans, the foundational promise of dating platforms breaks down completely.
Our partnership with Match Group addresses this challenge head-on. As one of the world's largest dating companies, they're committed to making their apps the best and safest way to meet new people, with trust and authenticity as core priorities.
Beginning with Tinder in Japan, we're introducing a simple verification flow that allows individuals to verify with World ID. This sends privacy-protected information that confirms their humanity without compromising personal data. Users will see a visible indicator showing they're interacting with a verified human, creating an additional layer of trust in the platform.
This verification adds a crucial element of confidence in an environment where authentic connection is the entire point. As our partnership evolves, we'll explore additional verification options across Match Group's portfolio of dating services.
Worldcoin — Sustainability and Decentralization
From inception, we designed World as an open protocol rather than a closed system. The reason was clear: proof-of-human verification is simply too important to be controlled by any single entity, including ourselves.
Worldcoin has been fundamental to this vision from day one. Initially, it served as a bootstrapping mechanism, helping grow the network to over 12 million verified humans and 26 million accounts globally. But its purpose extends far beyond initial growth.
As we enter the crucial second phase of our journey, we're focused on establishing sustainable infrastructure. For any protocol to succeed at global scale, it must inspire universal trust. This means three things: technology that is fully open source so anyone can examine it, governance that isn't controlled by any single entity, and architecture that makes it impossible for anyone to simply "turn off" the network.
Worldcoin enables this sustainability: through a transparent fee structure that creates value for all participants. Companies already spend hundreds of millions to combat bots and create human-only environments. By redirecting this investment through World ID fees, we create a balanced ecosystem where applications gain value from human verification while infrastructure providers build sustainable businesses.
Our transition to full decentralization follows a precise roadmap. By late 2026, we expect to reach the final stages — creating an ecosystem where no single organization, including our own, can control or halt the network.
With this foundation in place, we're now bringing Worldcoin to where our journey began. Starting today, Worldcoin is available in the United States. To celebrate this homecoming and recognize our early adopters, World Foundation is introducing the Pioneer Grant — 150 WLD for U.S. users who downloaded World App before today’s announcement.
World App 4.0: The Super App for Humans in the Age of AI
World App 4.0 reimagines what technology can be when designed for humans first. We've transformed every aspect of the experience to create a single platform where your verified identity, financial tools, and social connections work seamlessly together — specifically built for navigating the age of AI.
Mini Apps Ecosystem
The Mini Apps platform has demonstrated extraordinary traction, with people engaging more than half a billion times since launch. Mini Apps combine human verification with financial tools to create previously impossible experiences — all accessible within the World App.
We've redesigned the Mini Apps ecosystem to be more intuitive, with improved navigation across Apps, Games, and Coins categories. The interface now includes widgets that display your most relevant information, making it easier to explore and discover new apps.
The Kalshi Mini App exemplifies this potential. Launching today for U.S. users, it brings regulated prediction markets directly into World App through Zero Hash integration. This allows users to participate in prediction markets using their Worldcoin, creating a seamless connection between digital identity and financial engagement.
World Chat
What began as an experimental Mini App has become so popular that we've integrated it as a core feature of World App 4.0. World Chat delivers encrypted messaging with a crucial difference that addresses a fundamental concern in the age of AI: you can instantly see whether your conversation partner is a verified human.
World Chat bridges communication and finance, allowing you to attach money to messages as easily as you would attach a photo or voice message. This creates a seamless environment where conversations and transactions flow naturally, all within a space where human identity is verified and protected.
Enhanced Financial Infrastructure
Our payment network has flourished, processing over 350 million transactions — more than doubling from 150 million in just six months. The redesigned wallet creates a seamless experience with intuitive navigation and powerful features:
- Global Currency Hub: A partnership with Circle brings trusted stablecoins to the platform, enabling truly borderless finance with the most respected digital currencies in the world
- Cross-Border Capabilities: Send money to friends and family anywhere instantly without fees — a transformative solution for international transfers that traditionally come with high costs and delays
- DeFi Integration: The new Morpho Mini App brings sophisticated financial services directly into your wallet, allowing you to borrow against your existing assets while maintaining full custody
This comprehensive approach to financial infrastructure provides a complete financial system that works for humans in the age of AI, combining the best of traditional finance with the innovative capabilities of digital assets.
Stripe + World
Our vision for seamless financial transactions extends beyond the wallet itself. Through our partnership with Stripe, World App users will soon be able to pay directly at Stripe-enabled websites and applications with just a tap.
World Card
The final piece of our financial ecosystem arrives through our partnership with Visa. The World Card connects directly to your World App wallet, enabling digital asset spending across 150 million merchants worldwide. This bridge between traditional commerce and digital assets represents our vision for finance in the age of AI.
The Path Forward
Our U.S. launch begins on May 1 in six innovation hubs: San Francisco's Union Square, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Austin, and Nashville — with Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Orlando following shortly. These locations represent just the first steps of a much more ambitious plan. The true scale of our vision will materialize through the deployment of 7,500 Orbs across the United States over the next 12 to 24 months.
This expansion comes at a pivotal moment in our technological evolution. As AI reshapes our digital landscape, World offers a way to preserve human identity and agency in an increasingly synthetic environment. Each announcement today, from Orb Mini to our partnerships with Razer and Match Group to World App 4.0, serves a common purpose: ensuring technology remains a tool that empowers rather than replaces human connection.
In an era where proving our humanity has become both challenging and essential, we're creating infrastructure that recognizes the irreplaceable value of human experience. We invite you to join this movement — download World App, visit an Orb for verification, or build within our ecosystem.
Eligibility for Worldcoin (WLD) tokens is restricted based on geography, age, and other factors. WLD is not available for distribution via World App to people, companies or organizations who are residents of, or are located or incorporated in the State of New York or other restricted territories. World Assets, Ltd. and World Foundation are not responsible for the availability of WLD on third party platforms, such as centralized or decentralized exchanges. For details, go to: https://world.org/legal/user-terms-and-conditions. Crypto products can be highly risky. Important User Information can be found at https://world.org/risks.
The above content speaks only as of the date indicated. Further, it is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and so may be incorrect and may change without notice. A full disclaimer can be found in our Terms of Use and Important User Information can be found on our Risks page.
Disclaimer
The line between human and artificial intelligence grows thinner by the day. What once existed only in science fiction now permeates our reality: AI creates images, voices, and videos so convincing that distinguishing between authentic human interaction and machine imitation becomes increasingly difficult.
Verifying human identity has suddenly become essential, not philosophical. When we game online, date through apps, or handle our finances, we need to know who's real. World provides this certainty through straightforward technology that confirms you're human while keeping your personal information private and your digital choices your own.