#[1]alternate [2]alternate [3]alternate [4]alternate

  IFRAME: [5]https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NLXNPCQ

[6]Ars Technica

  [7]←
  [8]→
  0
  ____________________

    * [9]Biz & IT
    * [10]Tech
    * [11]Science
    * [12]Policy
    * [13]Cars
    * [14]Gaming & Culture
    * [15]Newsletter
    * [16]Forums
    * [17]Subscribe
    * [18]Store

[19]View Full Site

    * [20]light
    * [21]dark

[22]Log in

[23]Register

[24]Policy / Civilization & Discontents

OpenAI CEO raises $115M for crypto company that scans people’s eyeballs

Worldcoin investor insists "Orb" iris scanner is not a "dystopian nightmare."

  by [25]Jon Brodkin - May 25, 2023 7:18 pm UTC
  [26]71

  [worldcoin-orb-800x505.jpg]
  Worldcoin's "Orb," a device that scans your eyeballs to verify that
  you're a real human.

  A company co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has raised $115 million
  for Worldcoin, a crypto coin project that scans users' eyeballs in
  order "to establish an individual's unique personhood." In addition to
  leading the maker of ChatGPT and GPT-4, Altman is co-founder and
  chairman of [27]Tools for Humanity, a company that builds technology
  for the [28]Worldcoin project.

  Tools for Humanity today announced $115 million in Series C funding
  from Blockchain Capital, Andreessen Horowitz's crypto fund, Bain
  Capital Crypto, and Distributed Global. Blockchain Capital said that
  Worldcoin's "World ID" system that involves eyeball-scanning will make
  it easier for applications to distinguish between bots and humans.
  [29][worldcoin-orb-opened-640x353.jpg]
  [30]Enlarge / The Orb's components.
  Worldcoin

  "Worldcoin strives to become the world's largest and most inclusive
  identity and financial network, built around World ID and the Worldcoin
  token—a public utility that will be owned by everyone regardless of
  their background or economic status," the crypto firm's funding press
  release said.

  Worldcoin offers a [31]World app for iOS and Android, which "allows a
  person to set up their Worldcoin account and access a digital wallet
  connected to Worldcoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital and
  traditional currencies including stablecoins," the company says.

  The eyeball-scanning part comes into play for anyone who signs up for a
  World ID. This requires going to a physical location and using your
  eyes and a device called an "Orb" to verify that you're a real person.

  "The Orb uses iris biometrics to establish an individual's unique
  personhood, then creates a digital World ID that can be used
  pseudonymously in a wide variety of everyday applications without
  revealing the user's identity," Worldcoin says.

Orb availability is limited

  The World app itself can be used without signing up for a World ID, the
  company says. But Worldcoin says that people who get a World ID will
  also receive some free Worldcoin tokens and some amount of free bitcoin
  and ether currency.

  Worldcoin is still in beta, and its tokens are "not intended to be
  available to people in the United States or other restricted
  territories," a [32]project FAQ says. A US resident can obtain a World
  ID, but the World app tells users that there are no Orbs in the United
  States yet.

  "We're working hard to bring Orbs to every country in the World," the
  app says if you're located in one of those unfortunate Orb-less
  countries.

  Even though Worldcoin says its tokens aren't intended to be available
  to people in the US, the Orb hardware will be on display in a few US
  cities in the coming months. The company [33]announced an Orb "tour" in
  which "Worldcoin Orbs will be available for a limited time" from May
  through July in Berlin, Dubai, London, Mexico City, Miami, New York
  City, San Francisco, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Investor: Worldcoin is not a “dystopian nightmare”

  In a press release, Tools for Humanity said the new funding "will
  accelerate TFH's continued R&D and growth, enabling it to support the
  expansion of the Worldcoin project and to further develop [34]World
  App, the first wallet for the Worldcoin ecosystem."

  Blockchain Capital General Partner Spencer Bogart defended Worldcoin
  against the privacy and security criticisms the iris-scanning project
  has received. "I thought Worldcoin was some dystopian Orwellian
  nightmare, then our team invested hundreds of hours evaluating what the
  project's contributors have actually built and I completely changed my
  mind," Bogart [35]wrote on Twitter.

  Bogart claimed that "Worldcoin is quite likely the single most
  misunderstood project in all of crypto," noting that upon "first
  glance, it appears to be a noxious combination of hardware, biometrics,
  crypto and AI."

  But "in reality," according to Bogart, "Worldcoin's World ID is the
  most compelling solution we've seen" to a decades-old problem. "In
  short, Worldcoin has a unique opportunity to establish and scale a new
  privacy-preserving primitive for the Internet (World ID) that enables
  any application to easily distinguish between machines (bots) and
  humans."

  Blockchain Capital said on its [36]website that "World ID empowers
  individuals to verify their humanness online while maintaining
  anonymity through zero-knowledge proofs. Verification is as simple as
  clicking a button to sign a transaction."

  [37]Expand full story

  Page: 1 [38]2 [39]Next →

  [40]Reader comments 71

  [41][Jon-Brodkin2-sq.jpg]

  [42]Jon Brodkin / Jon has been a reporter for Ars Technica since 2011
  and covers a wide array of telecom and tech policy topics. Jon
  graduated from Boston University with a degree in journalism and has
  been a full-time journalist for over 20 years.
  Advertisement
   [43]← Older Story [44]Newer Story →

  [45][condenast-logo.png]
  CNMN Collection
  WIRED Media Group
  © 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on
  any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our [46]User
  Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and [47]Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement
  (updated 1/1/20) and [48]Ars Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018).
  Ars may earn compensation on sales from links on this site. [49]Read
  our affiliate link policy.
  [50]Your California Privacy Rights | Do Not Sell My Personal
  Information
  The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed,
  transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written
  permission of Condé Nast.
  [51]Ad Choices

References

  1. http://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/index
  2. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/1942294
  3. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/
  4. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/&format=xml
  5. https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NLXNPCQ
  6. https://arstechnica.com/
  7. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/google-search-starts-rolling-out-chat-gpt-style-generative-ai-results/
  8. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/supreme-court-limits-the-epas-authority-under-the-clean-water-act/
  9. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/
 10. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/
 11. https://arstechnica.com/science/
 12. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/
 13. https://arstechnica.com/cars/
 14. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/
 15. https://arstechnica.com/newsletters/
 16. https://arstechnica.com/civis/
 17. https://arstechnica.com/store/product/subscriptions/
 18. https://arstechnica.com/store/
 19. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/?view=grid
 20. https://arstechnica.com/?mobile_theme=light
 21. https://arstechnica.com/?mobile_theme=dark
 22. https://arstechnica.com/civis/login?_xfRedirect=/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/
 23. https://arstechnica.com/civis/register/
 24. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/
 25. https://arstechnica.com/author/jon-brodkin/
 26. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/?comments=1
 27. https://www.toolsforhumanity.com/
 28. https://worldcoin.org/
 29. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/worldcoin-orb-opened.jpg
 30. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/worldcoin-orb-opened.jpg
 31. https://worldcoin.org/download-app
 32. https://worldcoin.org/faqs
 33. https://worldcoin.org/blog/announcements/worldcoin-orb-going-on-tour-globally
 34. https://worldcoin.org/blog/announcements/introducing-world-app
 35. https://twitter.com/CremeDeLaCrypto/status/1661724483479281666
 36. https://blockchain.capital/worldcoin-proof-of-personhood-world-id-and-the-future-of-crypto-onboarding/
 37. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/
 38. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/2/
 39. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/2/
 40. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/openai-ceo-raises-115m-for-crypto-company-that-scans-peoples-eyeballs/?comments=1
 41. https://arstechnica.com/author/jon-brodkin
 42. https://arstechnica.com/author/jon-brodkin
 43. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/google-search-starts-rolling-out-chat-gpt-style-generative-ai-results/
 44. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/supreme-court-limits-the-epas-authority-under-the-clean-water-act/
 45. http://www.condenast.com/
 46. https://www.condenast.com/user-agreement/
 47. https://www.condenast.com/privacy-policy/
 48. https://arstechnica.com/amendment-to-conde-nast-user-agreement-privacy-policy/
 49. https://arstechnica.com/affiliate-link-policy/
 50. https://www.condenast.com/privacy-policy/#california
 51. https://www.condenast.com/online-behavioral-advertising-oba-and-how-to-opt-out-of-oba/#clickheretoreadmoreaboutonlinebehavioraladvertising(oba)

You are viewing proxied material from 1436.ninja. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.