Following in the footsteps of Musk? OpenAI reportedly developing social network with plans to adopt biometric technology

Cailian Press, January 29 (Editor Malan) OpenAI is attempting to ‘stand on Musk’s shoulders’ to achieve a breakthrough. According to sources familiar with the matter, OpenAI is developing its own social network, aiming to completely resolve the persistent bot problem in the industry.

As the leading company in the social platform sector, X has long been plagued by bot accounts. Since Musk acquired Twitter and renamed it X, the platform has been fighting against fake accounts and bot armies but with limited success.

OpenAI’s social network, still in its early development phase, is committed to solving this issue, aiming to create a platform exclusively for real users and further expand the market share of the ChatGPT chatbot and the image generation software Sora. However, this also means OpenAI will directly compete with established social media platforms such as X, Instagram, and TikTok.

Currently, OpenAI has assigned a team of fewer than ten people to develop the social networking platform, which includes research into biometric functions. Sources revealed that the team considered requiring users to provide proof of identity through Apple’s Face ID or World Orb.

World Orb is an iris scanner operated by Tools for Humanity, a company founded and chaired by OpenAI CEO Altman.

The Bot Challenge

For years, social networks have been plagued by bot accounts, which typically mimic human user behavior with the goal of inflating cryptocurrency prices or distorting public opinion by amplifying hate speech. The issue of bot accounts has been particularly severe on X.

Following Musk’s takeover, X launched large-scale cleanup efforts. In 2025 alone, X deleted approximately 1.7 million bot accounts, yet the problem persists like cutting weeds that keep growing back.

Altman has publicly stated that after integrating artificial intelligence, X feels even more artificial to him compared to what it was one or two years ago. He also mentioned the “Dead Internet Theory,” suggesting that since 2016, the internet has been inundated with non-human activities.

Biometric verification may serve as an effective preventive measure, but it remains a relatively novel approach for social networks. Previously, Facebook under Meta and LinkedIn under Microsoft attempted to verify user identities, though these efforts were limited to phone and email verification or relied on analyzing user behavior and network signals, which could not ensure that users were genuine human beings.

However, privacy advocates have warned that identity verification methods like World Orb carry risks, as irises are unique and cannot be altered. If such information falls into the hands of malicious actors, it could result in significant negative consequences.