AUGUSTASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8NEWSBINANCE TO LIST OPEN AI CEO SAM ALTMAN'S WORLDCOINITOCHU CORP. TO INVEST $2 BILLION IN US AND CANADAItochu Corp, a Japanese trading house, said in a statement on Monday that it plans to invest around $2 billion in renewable power generation assets in the United States and Canada with partners through a special fund.Japanese companies are investing in renewable assets abroad in order to capitalise on the rapidly growing business sector while also securing technologies critical to building a carbon-neutral economy at home.JERA, Japan's top liquefied natural gas buyer, announced $300 million in investments in green technology-focused start-ups last week, as part of the country's efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.Itochu announced on Monday that it would collaborate with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to provide opportunities for institutional investors, primarily from Japan, to invest in renewable energy in the United States and Canada. On July 24, Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, will go live. The project's main offering is its World ID, which only real humans can obtain. To obtain a World ID, a customer must first sign up for an in-person iris scan using Worldcoin's "orb," a silver ball about the size of a bowling ball. When the orb's iris scan confirms that the person is a real human, it generates a World ID.Tools for Humanity, based in San Francisco and Berlin, is the company behind Worldcoin.Since its beta period, the project has gained 2 million users, and with Monday's launch, Worldcoin is expanding its "orbing" operations to 35 cities in 20 countries. As an incentive, those who sign up in specific countries will receive Worldcoin's cryptocurrency token WLD.According to co-founder Alex Blania, the cryptocurrency aspect of World IDs is important because cryptocurrency blockchains can store World IDs in a way that preserves privacy and cannot be controlled or shut down by any single entity.As per the project, World IDs will be required in the age of generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, which produce remarkably humanlike language. World IDs could be used to distinguish between real people and AI bots on the internet.Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it will list Worldcoin, with trading set to begin on Monday at 9 a.m. GMT (5 p.m. Singapore time).
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