The price of Worldcoin token WLD surged nearly 20% to reach a high of $2.30, as the biometric crypto project reacted to the latest AI-related developments.

On Jan. 21, CBS News reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is set to announce a new AI initiative backed by private sector heavyweights OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle. The AI infrastructure investment project, reportedly named Stargate, will focus on advancing artificial intelligence in the U.S. and globally.

The news appears to have jolted World (WLD), formerly Worldcoin, token holders, with the cryptocurrency jumping from lows of $1.90 to an intraday high of $2.30. This rally briefly pushed WLD to the top of the rankings for biggest gainers among the top 200 coins by market cap. 

However, the token quickly pared some of these gains and was trading around $2.12 at the time of writing.

World, developed with contributions from Tools for Humanity, is a crypto project co-founded in 2019 by OpenAI’s Sam Altman. The venture capital-backed proof-of-humanity project has previously rallied on news tied to OpenAI. 

According to CBS News, Stargate will see OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle collectively invest an initial $100 billion into the project, with the first major milestone being a state-of-the-art data center in Texas.

The report also stated that Masayoshi Son (SoftBank CEO), Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO), and Larry Ellison (Oracle CEO) are expected to join President Trump at the White House for the official announcement.