Alexander Blania is a German entrepreneur and physicist, best known as the co-founder and CEO of Tools for Humanity, the technology company that serves as the founding entity of the Worldcoin project. His work centers on the intersection of artificial intelligence, global economic systems, and digital identity. Before his entrepreneurial career, Blania was a researcher in theoretical physics. ^[1]​

Education

For his higher education, Blania attended the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, where he earned a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Physics & Industrial Engineering. ^[3]

Career

Alex Blania is a co-founder of Merge Labs, a role he has held since January 2026. He has served as Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Tools for Humanity since January 2020, an organization associated with the development of World. In 2019–2020, Blania conducted research at California Institute of Technology, focusing on applications of deep learning to quantum systems. He previously worked as a master’s student in theoretical physics at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light from 2018 to 2020, where his research examined the use of artificial intelligence methods in quantum physics. ^[3]

Media Appearances

In a February 2026 interview on the Sourcery with Molly O'Shea, Blania stated that a large majority of future internet traffic could be generated by artificial intelligence systems, citing the rapid growth of automated agents, deepfakes, and online fraud. He argued that distinguishing human users from automated activity may become a central challenge for digital platforms and described World’s initiative as an effort to establish a proof-of-human verification layer. During the discussion, he referenced platform metrics including tens of millions of application users across more than 100 countries, millions of verified human participants, and hundreds of millions of recorded wallet transactions.

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