OpenAI has begun early development of a potential social media platform designed to restrict participation to verified humans, according to a Jan. 28 report by Forbes. Sources familiar with the project said the effort aims to address persistent bot activity that has degraded user trust across major social platforms, particularly X.
The initiative remains in its earliest phase. A team of fewer than 10 people is reportedly responsible for development, and no launch timeline has been set. OpenAI declined to comment on the report, while The Verge previously confirmed that the company had explored a social networking concept as early as April.
According to Forbes, the platform has been envisioned as a real-humans-only environment, with biometric identity verification under review. Proposed methods include Apple’s Face ID and the World Orb, an iris-scanning device operated by Tools for Humanity, a company founded and chaired by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Proof of personhood draws attention and concern
True biometric verification would represent a departure from existing identity checks used by platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn, which rely on phone numbers, email addresses, or behavioral signals. Neither platform has adopted biometric authentication at scale.
Privacy advocates have raised concerns about iris-based identification. Iris scans remain immutable and could present long-term risks if compromised. World, formerly known as Worldcoin, has faced scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions over consent and data handling practices related to its Orb deployments.
The Orb scans a person’s iris to generate a unique World ID, which verifies that a user is a distinct human. This system forms the foundation of the Worldcoin ecosystem and its associated WLD token.
Market response lifts Worldcoin despite broader downturn
Following the Forbes report, Worldcoin surged as much as 40% on Wednesday. The token climbed to an intraday high of $0.6388 before retreating. At the time of reporting, WLD traded near $0.5o, according to CoinGecko data.
Spot market activity rose sharply during the move. Trading volume reached $748.9 million over 24 hours, an increase of more than 1,000%. CoinGlass data showed futures volume at $1.91 billion, with open interest rising 76% to $193.5 million. The data suggested fresh positioning rather than short covering alone.
Despite the rally, Worldcoin remains under pressure over longer time frames. The token has fallen nearly 70% over the past 12 months amid a broader crypto market decline in the second half of 2025.
OpenAI’s frustration with bots predates the project
Sam Altman has publicly criticized the prevalence of automated accounts on social media. In September, he wrote on X that “somehow AI twitter/AI reddit feels very fake in a way it really didn't a year or two ago.” Days earlier, he referenced the “dead internet theory,” noting the apparent rise of large language model-driven accounts on the platform.
i never took the dead internet theory that seriously but it seems like there are really a lot of LLM-run twitter accounts now
— Sam Altman (@sama) September 3, 2025
Bot activity has plagued social networks for years, often used to inflate engagement metrics, manipulate sentiment, or promote cryptocurrency schemes. The issue intensified on Twitter after Elon Musk acquired the platform, rebranded it as X, and reduced staff by roughly 80%, including much of the trust and safety team.
If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2022
X reported the removal of around 1.7 million bot accounts in 2025, yet automated activity remains widespread.
Integration questions remain unanswered
Sources told Forbes that OpenAI’s proposed social network could allow users to create content with AI tools, including images or video. Meta already offers AI image generation within Instagram, which reported 3 billion monthly active users as of September.
How the platform would integrate with OpenAI’s existing products remains unclear. ChatGPT currently counts more than 800 million users, while the AI video app Sora reached 1 million downloads within five days of launch.
Despite that track record, competition would prove intense. Meta’s Threads now matches X in daily mobile users, while Bluesky has surpassed 40 million total users. Instagram and TikTok continue to dominate short-form and AI-assisted content distribution.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri addressed the trend in December, writing that “the feeds are starting to fill up with synthetic everything.”
High bar for trust and adoption
The reported project highlights the tension between authenticity and privacy in the next phase of social media development. While biometric verification could sharply reduce bot activity, it also introduces regulatory, ethical, and adoption hurdles that OpenAI would need to address before any public release.
For now, the platform remains conceptual. Its impact has so far been felt more in crypto markets than in consumer technology, with Worldcoin’s price reacting quickly to the possibility of broader adoption for proof-of-personhood systems.
Gunel Ismayilova
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