Altman's Biometric Bet: World Raises $52.5 Million to Map Your Eyes
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The 'proof of human' startup secures fresh capital from crypto VCs, but layoffs and scaling struggles suggest the iris-scanning vision is far from a reality.
OPINION: There is a particular kind of irony in the web3 space where 'decentralization' is the rallying cry, yet the faithful are more than happy to trust a single billionaire with their biological identity. Sam Altman is selling a dystopian iris-scanning fantasy, and apparently, the venture capital crowd is buying in.
According to reporting from TechCrunch, World—the online verification startup co-founded by Altman—has raised $52.5 million through a sale of its WLD crypto tokens to strategic investors. The lead buyer for this round was Pantera Capital, a digital asset-focused venture capital firm. Other participants included Bain Capital Crypto, Selini Capital, Susquehanna Crypto, and Eightco Holdings.
To ensure these investors don't just flip their bags for a quick profit, the sale included a 12-month lockup period. World described this restriction as a sign of the investors' "long-term commitment" to the utility and growth of the project. The funds are earmarked for the World Foundation, a Cayman Islands-based exempted limited guarantee foundation tasked with overseeing the network's expansion.
For those unfamiliar with the premise, World (which rebranded from "Worldcoin" following a general industry backlash) is operated by the San Francisco-based startup Tools for Humanity (TFH), led by CEO and co-founder Alex Blania. The company's core product is the "World ID," an anonymous digital marker intended to distinguish humans from AI bots in an increasingly synthetic digital landscape.
To achieve the highest level of verification, users must submit to a scan by an "Orb"—a metallic device that converts a person's iris into a cryptographic identifier. These Orbs are stationed at company offices and various partner stores globally. While the company has announced partnerships with Zoom, Docusign, and Tinder, the actual adoption has been underwhelming.
Despite the fresh capital, the reality on the ground is less than utopian. TechCrunch reports that World has struggled to scale its business or generate genuine consumer interest, leading TFH to conduct a round of layoffs in June. It seems that while the vision of a biometric-verified internet is seductive to VCs, the average person is less inclined to let a metallic ball scan their eyeballs for a token.