A controversial cryptocurrency started by the founder of ChatGPT has surged in price in the days following its launch, with market commentators referring to it as both “outlandish” and “revolutionary”. Worldcoin, launched last week by OpenAI boss Sam Altman, offers people a free share of the crypto token WLD in exchange for their biometric data. More than 2 million people have signed up through an iris-scanning orb, which is currently operating in 35 cities across 20 countries. The biometric data collected by Worldcoin is used to verify an individual’s “unique personhood” to ensure noone signs up more than once. It also offers a way to differentiate humans from AI bots, which Worldcoin claims is a core offering of its technology. Regulatory and legal challenges mean people are unable to sign up in certain markets, however Mr Altman claimed shortly after its launch that one person every eight seconds was signing up for the crypto project. A spokesperson for Worldcoin told The Independent that 1,500 orbs were being distributed around the world to meet demand, including to London, New York and Paris. Crypto market commentators have said that a 50 per cent price surge in the day following its launch showed the level of interest and demand in the WLD token despite concerns surrounding its rollout. “OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project might just be one of the most ambitious cryptocurrency projects in recent years,” Louis Schoeman, a managing director at Forex Suggest, told The Independent. “The main aim of this global digital identification is to connect your World ID to websites and apps rather than traditional logins, proving you’re a real person without having to share personal data like names and emails. This sort of digital ID will be necessary in the development of AI, in order to tell the difference between humans and AI bots online. “A global digital ID enabling private identity verifications is undeniably revolutionary, however, it’s certain to stir up controversy, with many already calling the exchange of biometric data for crypto tokens an outlandish bribe.” The Worldcoin cryptocurrency spiked from $1.90 to $3.15 on the day of its launch, before dropping back below $2. It has since surged again and was trading above $2.30 on Tuesday, bucking broader market trends. Read More ChatGPT creator launches bitcoin rival that scans people’s eyeballs Meta is secretly building an AI chatbot with the personality of Abraham Lincoln Google Assistant to be ‘supercharged’ with AI like ChatGPT and Bard ChatGPT will now know who you are and what you want

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A battery startup is aiming to be the first company in the world to mass produce electric vehicle batteries with a range of 1,000km – roughly double the current standard. China-based Gotion High Tech, which is a supplier to Volkswagen, unveiled its new L600 LMFP Astroinno battery at its annual technology conference, claiming that mass production will begin in 2024. The lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) battery has already passed all necessary safety tests, the company said, and has a life cycle of 4,000 charge-discharge cycles – making it suitable for everyday electric cars. The 1,000km range from a single charge gives the battery a potential lifetime range of 4 million kilometres, far exceeding the average lifespan of a car. Its single-charge range is also equivalent to records set by customised electric prototypes, such as the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX that broke a range record by travelling from Germany to the UK on a single charge last year. It took 10 years of in-house research to make the technology commercially viable, using new electrolyte additives and state-of-the-art technology to overcome previous issues with this type of battery. Until now, LMFP materials have suffered low conductivity, low compaction density and manganese dissolution at high temperatures, meaning they were too inefficient and unwieldy to use in EVs. Despite these challenges, the enormous potential of the technology has drawn the attention of researchers and industry watchers. “In recent years, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology has regained the recognition of the market with market share continuing to increase,” said Dr Cheng Qian, executive president of the International Business Unit of Gotion High-Tech. “Meanwhile, the energy density growth of mass-produced LFP batteries has encountered bottlenecks, and further improvement requires an upgrade of the chemical system, so [our system] was developed.” The company also made other breakthroughs with the battery’s design, which reduced the number of structural parts by 45 per cent and lowered their weight by nearly a third. Wiring for the battery pack has also dropped from 303 metres to just 80 metres thanks to the innovative design. It is not clear which vehicles the battery will first appear in, though Gotion High Tech is planning a $2.3 billion battery factory in the US. Read More Solar panel efficiency to increase 50% with first production of ‘miracle’ tandem cells Apple is making a ‘mixed reality’ headset. Here’s what that future might look like WhatsApp will let people change messages after they are sent ‘RIP photoshop’: New AI can alter any photo with the click of a mouse