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The Battle of the Everything Apps — Digital Identity, Payments, Social Graphs, AI and Universal Basic Income

A high-stakes battle is unfolding between major tech giants to create dominant “everything apps” that combine digital identity, messaging, payments, and AI services. The winner of this contest could gain unrivalled data to power their AI platforms and to shape the future of society.

There is the promise of implementing a universal basic income (UBI) via these super apps as a mechanism to mitigate the downside risks of technological disruption in an era of accelerating automation and the rise of artificial general intelligence. Whether the promises will be delivered, lead to more equality, be decentralized enough to distribute power to all of humanity, or be available in time before the automation disruption will be, at the very least, interesting to monitor.

The main contenders in this race are:

Dr Google? AI could be doctor in the pocket, but company’s health officer urges caution about its limits

I expect this to double over at least 2 maybe 3 times between now and 2030. AND, we here need to back it at every step if we really want indefinite life extension. Time to pick a side is right now.


The arrival of artificial intelligence into healthcare means everyone could one day have a doctor in their pocket, but Google’s chief health officer has urged caution about what AI can do and what its limits should be.

“There’s going to be an opportunity for people to have even better access to services, [and] to great quality services,” Dr Karen DeSalvo told Guardian Australia in an interview last week.

Research to merge human brain cells with AI secures national defence funding

“The new research program, led by Associate Professor Adeel Razi, from the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, in collaboration with Melbourne start-up Cortical Labs, involves growing around 800,000 brain cells living in a dish, which are then “taught” to perform goal-directed tasks. Last year the brain cells’ ability to perform a simple tennis-like computer game, Pong, received global attention for the team’s research.”


Monash University-led research into growing human brain cells onto silicon chips, with new continual learning capabilities to transform machine learning, has been awarded almost $600,000 AUD in the prestigious National Intelligence and Security Discovery Research Grants Program.

According to Associate Professor Razi, the research program’s work using lab-grown brain cells embedded onto silicon chips, “merges the fields of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology to create programmable biological computing platforms,” he said.

Robot made of LEGOs produces DNA machines

A team of ingenious bioengineers at Arizona State University (ASU) has harnessed the power of childhood nostalgia, unveiling a creative solution to a long-standing challenge in DNA origami research.

They’ve successfully employed a LEGO robotics kit to build an affordable, highly effective gradient mixer for purifying self-assembling DNA origami nanostructures. This innovative breakthrough, detailed in a paper published one PLOS ONE, promises to revolutionize how scientists approach DNA origami synthesis.

The creation of DNA origami structures is an intricate process, requiring precise purification of nanostructures. Traditionally, this purification step involved rate-zone centrifugation, relying on a costly piece of equipment called a gradient mixer. However, the maverick minds at ASU have demonstrated that even the iconic plastic bricks of LEGO can be repurposed for scientific advancement.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman launches Worldcoin crypto project

July 24 (Reuters) — Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, launched on Monday.

The project’s core offering is its World ID, which the company describes as a “digital passport” to prove that its holder is a real human, not an AI bot. To get a World ID, a customer signs up to do an in-person iris scan using Worldcoin’s ‘orb’, a silver ball approximately the size of a bowling ball. Once the orb’s iris scan verifies the person is a real human, it creates a World ID.

The company behind Worldcoin is San Francisco and Berlin-based Tools for Humanity.

ChatGPT creator launches eye-scanning crypto-based ID to distinguish humans from AI

Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, was launched today.

Worldcoin, an entity offering a World ID to distinguish earthlings from artificial intelligence, was launched Monday. The company rolled out an eyeball-scanning technology and a crypto token called WLD.

Co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman with Alex Blania three years ago, WorldCoin said it is looking to revolutionize digital identity. It’s designed by developers at Tools for Humanity (TFH). A user can use WorldCoin to authenticate their World ID to prove they are a real person and will receive the digital currency in their account, which they can send anywhere.

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