Sam Altman’s eye-scanning orbs have arrived, sparking curiosity and fear

Earlier this month, a mysterious store selling a vision of the future opened its doors in downtown San Francisco’s Union Square district.

A cryptic message appeared on the storefront window: “World is the real human network. Anonymous proof of human and universally inclusive finance for the age of AI. Millions of humans in over 160 countries. Now available in the USA.”

The store attracted a small crowd and curious onlookers. People took turns scanning their eyes by peering into white devices known as orbs — to prove they are human. Then they received, free of charge, a verified World ID they could use to log into online services and apps. As an extra bonus, participants were given some Worldcoin cryptocurrency tokens.

Some just observed from a distance.

“I’m afraid to walk inside,” said Brian Klein, 66, as he peered into the window on his way to the theater. “I don’t want that thing taking any of my data and biometric scanning me.”

The futuristic technology is the creation of a startup called Tools for Humanity, which is based in San Francisco and Munich, Germany. Founded in 2019 by Alex Blania and Sam Altman — the entrepreneur known for OpenAI’s ChatGPT — the tech company says it’s “building for humans in the age of AI.”

In theory, these iris scans offer a safe and convenient way for consumers to verify their human identity at a time when AI-powered tools can easily create fake audio and images of people.

“We wanted a way to make sure that humans stayed special and essential in a world where the internet was going to have lots of AI-driven content,” said Altman, the chairman for Tools for Humanity, at a glitzy event in San Francisco last month.

Like the early stages of Facebook and PayPal, World is still in a growth phase, trying to lure enough customers to its network to eventually build a viable service.

A chief draw, World says, is that people can verify their humanness at an orb without providing personal information, such as, their names, emails, phone numbers and social media profiles.

But some are skeptical, contending that handing over biometric data is too risky. They cite instances where companies have reported data breaches or filed for bankruptcy, such as DNA research firm 23andMe.

“You can’t get new eyeballs. I don’t care what this company says. Biometric data like these retinal scans will get out. Hacks and leaks happen all the time,” said Justin Kloczko, a tech and privacy advocate at Consumer Watchdog. “Your eyeballs are going to be like gold to these thieves.”

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