Sam Altman’s Worldcoin Brings Iris-Scanning Identity Verification to the US

Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI, is expanding his identity verification startup, Tools for Humanity, into the United States starting May 1, 2025. The company’s product, known as ‘World’—formerly ‘Worldcoin’—uses a physical orb to scan users’ irises and generate a unique ID stored on the blockchain. This technology aims to combat digital identity fraud, especially in the age of advanced AI-generated content. At a launch event in San Francisco, Altman and co-founder Alex Blania revealed plans to open six physical verification centers across the U.S., modeled after Apple Stores, including one in San Francisco. Tools for Humanity also announced new strategic partnerships with Visa and Match Group to help integrate its verification system with mainstream payment and social platforms. Despite previous scrutiny over data privacy and its resemblance to dystopian surveillance systems, the company has raised $240 million from major investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures. Altman believes verifying “personhood” is crucial in the AI era, and the World platform represents his proposed solution to a growing global concern around digital authenticity.