Sam Altman's blockchain venture, World, launched its controversial eye-scanning technology across six American cities Wednesday, announcing plans to deploy 7,500 biometric scanning devices nationwide by year's end. The chrome, bowling ball-shaped "orbs" will initially appear in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville and San Francisco, allowing users who submit to iris scans to access the World app and receive the company's WLD cryptocurrency tokens.
What to Know:
- World plans to install 7,500 eye-scanning orbs across America by December 2025, potentially reaching 180 million Americans
- Users who undergo iris scans receive cryptocurrency tokens and access to new financial services including loans and a Visa debit card
- The company is building a manufacturing facility in Richardson, Texas to support the nationwide expansion
The ambitious rollout aims to make the technology accessible to approximately 180 million Americans—more than half the nation's population—by December, according to executives at World's parent company, Tools for Humanity.
The announcement came during a San Francisco press conference where company officials unveiled several new features and partnerships.
"They will really be everywhere," said Alex Blania, Tools for Humanity's co-founder, during the announcement. "They will be in gas stations, convenience stores, and you will be able to verify within 10 minutes wherever you are."
World's expanding ecosystem now offers users access to crypto-backed loans through non-custodial lending protocol Morpho and prediction markets via Kalshi. The company also revealed plans for a World-linked Visa debit card later this year, allowing token holders to spend their WLD cryptocurrency like traditional currency.
Beyond financial services, the project has secured a partnership with online dating giant Match Group to integrate its identity verification technology. Beginning with Tinder users in Japan, the partnership will pilot World ID as a mechanism to verify users' ages on dating platforms.
The expansion comes as American cryptocurrency regulations have shifted noticeably since President Donald Trump took office in January. The regulatory environment has become markedly more accommodating to blockchain ventures and digital asset projects, enabling World's aggressive push into the U.S. market.
During the press conference, Altman revealed that the concept for World predated his more widely known artificial intelligence company, OpenAI. "We needed some sort of way for authenticating humans in the age of [artificial general intelligence]," Altman explained. "We needed a way that we could know what content was made by humans, [and what was made] by AI. We wanted a way to make sure that humans stayed special and central in a world where the internet was going to have lots of AI-driven content."
Altman's Vision and Related Projects
Sam Altman has become one of Silicon Valley's most influential figures through his leadership at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and other breakthrough artificial intelligence systems. As OpenAI's CEO, Altman has navigated the company through explosive growth and controversies, including a brief dismissal by the board in late 2023 before being reinstated after employee backlash and investor pressure.
Beyond OpenAI and World, Altman maintains investments in numerous technology ventures through his personal portfolio and previous work at Y Combinator, where he served as president from 2014 to 2019. His interest in authentication technology and digital identity reflects a broader concern with how emerging technologies will reshape human interaction in increasingly digital environments.
While the World project represents a blockchain-based approach to these challenges, OpenAI focuses on developing artificial general intelligence that Altman believes should be deployed safely and for humanity's benefit.
Closing Thoughts
The World project's rapid expansion reflects growing acceptance of blockchain-based identity verification despite persistent privacy concerns. As these eye-scanning orbs become more prevalent across American cities, they represent a significant test case for public willingness to exchange biometric data for cryptocurrency and digital services.