Sam Altman, already having a bad start to his week as a Chinese chatbot has put into doubt the lead of U.S. AI startups, is facing another headache. One of the other startups in his growing empire, World, has reportedly been blocked by Brazilian authorities from paying people to scan their irises into its World ID system.
World, formerly known as Worldcoin, is Altman’s startup that aims to create a digital ID system relying on iris scans to verify identity online. As the internet is flooded with more AI-generated content, World could help distinguish real humans from bots. The irony is not lost on most who believe Altman’s OpenAI is responsible for the proliferation of inauthentic content online. Critics have said that tech leaders including Sam Altman have a self-interest in warning about the threats of AI, helping elevate their positions in Washington to grow their influence and power.
World has been the subject of much controversy over its use of a polarizing orb device that has been described at times as creepy and dystopian; and for World’s practice of entering developing nations and paying locals to scan their eyeballs in exchange for cryptocurrency.
World has already been banned in several countries, including Spain, with a privacy watchdog citing concerns over how the company’s eyeball-scanning technology collects and processes biometric data. Brazil is following in those countries’ footsteps, albeit with a more lenient ban on paying for scans. The government there also ordered Tools for Humanity, the parent company of World, to identify on its website who is responsible for processing personal data.
World’s World ID requires users to scan their eyeballs through one of its orbs, a device that captures an image of the user’s irises, before they receive a unique digital ID stored on the blockchain. Some early uses of World ID include an integration with Reddit that allows the moderators of subreddits to place flair on the accounts of users who have verified their identities through World, giving members the confidence that they are talking to actual humans and not bots. Users can ensure they are the only ones able to use their World ID by scanning their face and comparing it against face scans taken by the orb at the time of sign-up. The face scans taken by the orb are only stored locally on a user’s phone.
Some see World’s early behavior as exploitative. In order to jumpstart adoption of the system, the company has offered money to people in regions including Africa to scan their eyeballs. These people will participate out of desperation, the thinking goes, so it is not quite a “choice.” In making its decision, Brazil’s data protection authority said that providing financial compensation “may interfere with the free expression of will of individuals, by influencing the decision regarding giving their biometric data.”
World, for its part, says that its service complies with all Brazilian laws and regulations and that authorities have been misled by false information spread in the press and on social media.
Gizmodo has reached out to World for comment but has not heard back.
One of the concerns about a system like World is that in the wrong hands, the technology could be used to surveil individuals’ activities online so that everyone will “be on their best behavior,” as Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has said will be one of the benefits of AI that can constantly monitor the world. When the cost of surveillance becomes almost free, everyone gets surveilled. The intentions might be good, but it can go too far and lead to bad consequences like police wrongfully tying individuals to crimes by association that they did not commit.
World says on its website that no personal identifying information is tied to a World ID so holders cannot be tied back to their unique World ID. More than 10 million scans have been completed to date, the company announced in early January. Few websites appear to integrate the company’s identity system yet, and it remains to be seen whether most people around the world will be open to scanning their eyeballs.
Oracle’s Larry Ellison says “citizens will be on their best behavior” with an AI surveillance system pic.twitter.com/AzqWJWuswf
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) January 22, 2025
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