Altman Raises $135Mn for Eyeball Scanning Orbs
OpenAI CEO pressed ahead with US expansion for his human identification company, World, after three countries banned the biometric data collection project.
The OpenAI chief executive's World project closed a funding round from Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital Crypto this week.
The goal? To create digital IDs for 180 million Americans.
This comes at a time when distinguishing human-generated content from AI is crucial for everything from social media to democratic participation. How do you know if that political opinion came from a real voter or a sophisticated bot farm?
World's solution? A chrome orb that scans your iris to create a unique "World ID".
Altman frames World as preparation for artificial general intelligence — when AI matches human cognitive abilities across all domains. Ironically, this comes from the same man who started the AI revolution with his OpenAi’s ChatGPT project.
The iris scan creates a biometric hash, which is a mathematical fingerprint of your eyeball that's theoretically impossible to fake. Once verified, you gain access to their app and receive WLD tokens as a reward.
World is setting up an entire ecosystem around that identity to build financial infrastructure around verified digital identity.
Their app now includes
Crypto-backed loans through Morpho protocol
Prediction markets via Kalshi
A World-linked Visa debit card for spending WLD tokens
Integration with dating apps (starting with Tinder in Japan)
Not everyone's rolling out the welcome mat.
Brazil said no. The country's National Data Protection Authority banned World entirely, arguing that offering cryptocurrency in exchange for biometric data violates informed consent. World faces fines of $8,851 per day if they continue operating.
Indonesia followed suit. Their communications ministry suspended World's business licence for failing to register properly as digital asset service providers.
Germany joined the party. Bavarian regulators demanded World comply with EU data protection standards, particularly allowing individuals to delete their biometric data.
The pattern is clear: governments worldwide are deeply uncomfortable with World's approach.
Why? Because once your iris scan is in their system, it's there forever. Unlike a password you can change, your eyeball pattern is permanent.
The $135 million funding round suggests sophisticated investors believe convenience will outweigh privacy concerns. They're betting Americans will embrace iris scanning as readily as they adopted smartphones, despite surveillance implications.
Sam Altman probably believes he's building infrastructure for human flourishing in an AI age. Critics worry he's constructing the architecture of digital authoritarianism.
Imagine your World ID becoming your gateway to digital services — banking, voting, social media, and dating. It's either the ultimate convenience or the ultimate control mechanism.