A DAO is an organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent, controlled by the organization members and not influenced by a central government. A DAO's financial transaction record and program rules are maintained on a blockchain.
DAOs are not controlled by a single institution like a government or central bank, but instead are divided among a variety of computers, networks, and nodes. In many cases, virtual currencies make use of this decentralized status to attain levels of privacy and security that are typically unavailable to standard currencies and their transactions.
Why make an organization like the DAO? The developers of the DAO believed they could eliminate human error or manipulation of investor funds by placing decision-making power into the hands of an automated system and a crowdsourced process.
DAOs are internet communities of cryptocurrency aficionados who “set out to accomplish certain goals like developing software, investing, or community-building (and often all three.” These collectives have been described by some as building blocks for “the future of the internet”, as the world makes the shift to Web 3.0.
Over the past year, DAOs have also been generating “millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrencies” on Ethereum.
Trever McFedries founded the Friends With Benefits DAO last year and established a publicly tradable crypto token called $FWB. Friends With Benefits now has more than 2,000 members globally and describes itself as being “where crypto meets culture”.
https://www.investopedia.com/tech/what-dao/
https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/technology/954814/what-are-daos-cryptocurrency