Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and the architect of ChatGPT, is behind a venture that wants to solve a modern-day problem: proving you’re human amidst a proliferation of bots and artificial intelligence.
The startup, called World (formerly Worldcoin), is launching in the U.S. with the distribution of 20,000 tech devices called Orbs that scan a person’s retina to verify they are human. After confirming a person’s humanity, World then creates a digital ID for users that proves their personhood, distinguishing them from a bot or AI program that can mimic human behavior.
The device, which looks like something out of “Black Mirror,” may seem ironic coming from Altman, given that its purpose is to help people stand out from the very same types of technology he helped develop. But World’s backers say the Orb and its “proof of personhood” is addressing a problem that can stymie everything from finance to online dating: bots impersonating people.
The Orb “is a privacy-first way to prove you are a human in the world of AI and bots,” said Jake Brukhman, co-founder of CoinFund, one of the project’s earliest backers. “That is getting relevant as AI is becoming much more prevalent in the world.”
U.S. rollout follows international debut
World isn’t exactly new, as it debuted outside the U.S. in 2023 and has already sparked privacy backlash, with Kenya’s government shutting down the service, according to the Associated Press. Other jurisdictions followed suit, including Hong Kong and Spain.
“I will say that upon the launch in 2023 there was a lot of noise about this,” Brukhman said. “But a lot of noise came from the lack of understanding about the Orb and how it works.”
The Orb doesn’t store any biometric data, he added. The device takes photos to ensure a person is human, but then stores that info on the user’s device, not in the Orb, according to World’s website.
World also has a link to cryptocurrencies, as the Orb’s human-verification process is designed to be used in the World App, which is a digital wallet that gives people access to decentralized finance and cryptocurrencies.
The time is right for a rollout in the U.S., Brukhman said, with expectations of looser crypto regulations under Trump administration. President Trump, who has vowed to turn the U.S. into the cryptocurrency capital of the world, is working on a “crypto strategic reserve” for the nation.
The Orbs will be rolled out in stores in six U.S. cities, including Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville, Miami and San Francisco, as well as at gaming retailer Razer, with the idea that people can go to physical locations to get themselves verified as human.
“It takes a founder of the brand and acumen of a Sam Altman to really do digital identity,” Brukhman said. The U.S. rollout “will massively bolster the adoption of registered users on the network.”
