Sam Altman-backed World Network secures $52.5 million in fresh funding to fight online AI deepfakes
The World Foundation,the independent, nonprofit steward of the protocol, raised $52.5 million in a new funding round through a locked token sale to strategic investors to expand its digital verification infrastructure as artificial intelligence (AI) disrupts online ecosystems, the organization announced Friday.
The capital injection, led by Pantera Capital alongside Bain Capital Crypto and Eightco Holdings, will be deployed to integrate identity technology across enterprise platforms and AI agents.
The World Network raised $135 million in its first funding round in May of last year in a private token sale of its world coin ($WLD) token to venture capital giants a16z and Bain Capital Crypto. $WLD is currently priced at roughly $0.37 with a market capitalization of just over $1.3 billion
“The need for Proof of Human is becoming acutely clear with the acceleration of AI development, and we see this in the influx of enterprise traction,” said Cosmo Jiang, Pantera Capital General Partner, in a statement.
Poised to become the world’s most prominent “real humans’ network”, the project previously known as Worldcoin aims to establish an identity layer to distinguish unique individuals from automated bots. The protocol relies on custom hardware, known as an Orb, to issue credentials without compromising user privacy.
“World’s technology and proof of human and variations are among the most important building blocks to secure and verify interactions in an increasingly digital driven world,” said Tom Lee, an Eightco Holdings board member who also serves as the chairman of Bitmine, in a statement.
World said the investment comes as it shifts from building the network to scaling the utility.
To date, more than 39 million people have joined the World Network, with more than 18 million humans verified by an Orb, World said in the funding announcement press release. The network has utilized more than 475 million World ID proofs since its launch, scaling its capacity alongside the rollout of its updated, enterprise-ready infrastructure, it added.
World, the Sam Altman-backed digital identity project, unveiled in April what it called its most significant upgrade yet to World ID, positioning the system as “full-stack proof of human” infrastructure aimed at consumers, enterprises and AI agents.