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For the past several years, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman-backed Worldcoin has been scanning the eyes of millions of people all over the world in exchange for cryptocurrency. Now they want to do it in the United States.
Using metallic “World orbs” that serve as biometric data scanning devices, Tools for Humanity – the company behind the Worldcoin cryptocurrency that was launched in July 2023 – is creating a verification system based on iris recognition. In exchange for giving the project a digital copy of their iris, people have received 16 Worldcoin.
On Wednesday at a press event in San Francisco, Altman, the chairman of Tools for Humanity, and Alex Blania, the CEO of the company, announced that their orbs will soon be available for iris scans in Razer gaming stores and at “World Space” locations in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco.
They also revealed that they are talks with Visa to create a debit card that converts Worldcoin into actual currency people can spend in stores.
The Verge deputy editor Alex Heath reports, “Since it was founded by Altman, Blania, and Max Novendstern in 2019, the startup’s stated mission has been to make World ID the primary method for verifying humans online.”
According to the Worldcoin website, “In the age of AI, World is a network of real humans built on an anonymous proof of human and a globally inclusive financial network. And unlike other networks, your data is owned and controlled by you. World is built to connect, empower and be owned by everyone.”
So far, more than 12 million people from over 100 countries have been verified using the World orbs. Financial Times reports the company plans to build as many as 10,000 orbs for the U.S. market within the next 12 months, which would be five times what they have already rolled across the rest of the world combined.
Worldcoin’s plans for expansion into other countries like Spain, Portugal, Hong Kong, South Korea, and France have been slowed, or in some cases completely halted, by bans, probes or fines over security and privacy concerns, especially collecting personal information about minors. In the United States, however, those obstacles are currently not in place.
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