Sam Altman’s Eye-scanning Orb Comes To The Us

If getting answers from ChatGPT makes you feel like you’re in a sci-fi dystopia, you may not want to hear about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s other co-founded venture, now rolling out stateside. It’s an orb that scans your eyeballs in exchange for cryptocurrency.

What in the Demolition Man? The device, which creates a unique user ID for your scan, is meant to address a problem that Altman had a hand in creating: how to verify identities and confirm humanity in a world full of artificial intelligence.

The project, called World (formerly Worldcoin), went live in other countries in 2023. Its US expansion, announced this week, featured retail outlets in five cities where you can get your eyes scanned:

• Tools for Humanity, the company behind the orbs, says 12+ million people around the world have participated so far.
• It claims to keep your data private, but authorities in more than a dozen places have suspended World’s operations or investigated its data practices, per the WSJ.

The orb wants to help you find love: Tools for Humanity has partnered with dating app giant Match Group to provide age verification, with Tinder users in Japan set to be the first to mix iris scans and romance. It’s also launching a credit card with Visa.—AR