Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: Sam Altman's eyeball-scanning ID technology debuts in the US

Date: Thu, 01 May 2025 13:00:32 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/sam-al...

Tools for Humanity, a startup co-founded by Sam Altman, has launched its its
World eyeball-scanning identity verification system in the US. During an
event in San Francisco, Altman reportedly said that World's technology
provides "a way to make sure humans remained central and special in a world
where the internet had a lot of AI-driven content." Altman is also one of the
founders and is currently the CEO of OpenAI, which is perhaps the most
prominent artificial intelligence company today.

World was used to be known as Worldcoin until Tools of Humanity decided to
focus on the digital ID aspect of the project rather than the cryptocurrency
part, because the Biden administration didn't have a friendly stance towards
crypto. The project uses basketball-sized spherical objects called the Orb to
scan a user's irises, which it then turns into a unique IrisCode for them. It
will then use that information to create a World ID for the user that they
can use to log into integrated platforms, including Minecraft and Reddit.
Users who get verified will get some of the project's cryptocurrency for
free.

Tools for Humanity said World keeps some access to user's data to ensure they
aren't double-scanning their biometrics. But it also said that most of the
personal data it collects remains decentralized, anonymized and supposedly
impossible to reverse-engineer to identify someone. World is opening six
locations in Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville, Miami and San Francisco
where people can get their irises scanned.

During the event, the project also revealed that it's working on a smaller,
smartphone-shaped device called the Orb mini that can verify a person's
identify. It eventually intends to turn it into a mobile point-of-sale
device. The project has introduced new partnerships, as well: It will soon
launch the World Visa card for people who've had their identities verified,
and it will pilot its identity and age verification tools with Tinder in
Japan.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/sam-al...
technology-debuts-in-the-us-130032856.html?src=rss

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