Sam Altman’s Iris-Scanning Startup Reaches Only 2% of Its Goal
Sam Altman’s ambitious—and often criticized—vision to scan humanity’s eyeballs for a profit is falling far behind its own expectations. The startup, now known simply as World (previously Worldcoin), has barely made a dent in its goal of creating a global biometric identity network. Despite backing from major venture capital firms, the company has reportedly achieved only two percent of its goal to scan one billion people. According to Business Insider, World has so far enrolled around 17.5 million users, which is far more than many initially expected for a project this unconventional—yet still vastly insufficient for its long-term aims.
World is part of Tools for Humanity, co-founded by Altman, who serves as chairman, and CEO Alex Blania. The concept is straightforward but controversial: individuals visit a World location, where a metallic orb scans their irises and converts the pattern into a unique, encrypted digital identifier. This 12,800-digit binary code becomes the user’s key to accessing World’s digital ecosystem, which includes an app marketplace and its own cryptocurrency, Worldcoin. The broader vision is for World to operate as both a verification layer and a payment identity in an online world increasingly swamped by AI-generated content and bots—many created through Altman’s other enterprise, OpenAI.
Although privacy concerns have followed the project since its launch, a few experts have been surprisingly positive about its security model. Encryption specialist Matthew Greene examined the system and noted in 2023: “As you can see, this system appears to avoid some of the more obvious pitfalls of a biometric-based blockchain system… This architecture rules out many threats that might lead to your eyeballs being stolen or otherwise needing to be replaced.”
Gizmodo’s own reporters tested World’s offerings last year and found no major red flags, though their overall impressions were lukewarm. The outlet contacted Tools for Humanity to ask when the company expects to hit its lofty target of one billion scans—a milestone that appears increasingly distant.
Regulatory scrutiny in several countries has further slowed World’s expansion, highlighting the uphill battle it faces in trying to persuade the global population to participate in its unusual biometric program.
To accelerate adoption, World is reportedly looking to land major identity-verification deals with widely used digital platforms. The BI report highlights a strategy centered on partnering with companies that already require or are moving toward stronger identity verification. It states that World launched a pilot with Match Group to verify Tinder users in Japan, and has struck partnerships with Stripe, Visa, and gaming brand Razer. A Semafor report also noted that Reddit has been in discussions with Tools for Humanity about integrating its verification technology.
Even with these potential partnerships, scaling the project remains a steep challenge. Requiring users to physically appear at an office and wait in line to scan their eyes is unlikely to support rapid growth. To realistically reach hundreds of millions of users, the company will likely need to introduce app-based verification or another frictionless alternative. Sources told the New York Post in September that World is aiming for 100 million sign-ups over the next year, suggesting that a major expansion or product evolution may be in the works.
