The Orb Will See You Now

Tools for Humanity, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2019, is rolling out its Orb iris-scanning device in the United States to verify humans in an AI-saturated internet. The company aims to verify 50 million people by the end of 2025 and ultimately every human, rewarding sign-ups with Worldcoin cryptocurrency worth about $42. Tools for Humanity has verified just 12 million humans since mid-2023, a pace CEO Alex Blania concedes is well behind schedule. Divya Siddarth of the Collective Intelligence Project says a proof-of-humanity system is necessary, though its centralization and privacy would be key questions.