Worldcoin arrives in the United States. Objective: scan your iris to prove that you are human. Behind this project, Sam Altman, the boss of Openai, is focusing on a biometric technology to create a unique and secure digital identity. With six sites open in key cities, the bet is launched: bind blockchain, crypto and eye recognition to reinvent access to digital services.
In short
- Worldcoin arrives in the United States with six sites.
- The initiative, carried by Sam Altman, is accompanied by partnerships with Visa and Tinder, integrating the World ID into payments and age verification.
- But the technology divides, between the promise of a more human and feared web concerning privacy and the use of biometric data
Naked eye identification
The founder of Openai, Sam Altman, never ceases to blur the boundaries between science fiction and reality.
This time, it is not a question of generating images or texts with AI, but of examining very closely … your eyes. The Crypto WorldCoin project-recently renamed simply “World”-now deploys six centers in the United States to collect iris scans using its famous Orb, a spherical biometric device that looks more like an extraterrestrial artifact than a verification terminal.
Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville, Miami and San Francisco were chosen as the first stops of this techno-identity adventure. Objective: create a unique Iriscode, specific to each user, in order to verify that it is indeed a human being and not a robot.
In return, the user receives a free dose of WLD, the Home crypto. The whole is orchestrated with a promise: that of a web where humans are not relegated behind the bots, but becomes central again.
This technology, although controversial, responds to a contemporary emergency: the proliferation of artificial intelligences, deepfakes and tampered identities. For Altman and his acolyte Alex Blania, the time has come to establish proof of humanity in a world increasingly saturated by the false.
Crypto, data and society: an orbit under tension
But behind the technical feat, World's ambition is also economical. Two weight partnerships have just been announced. First with Visa, which will soon offer a “World Visa Card”Reserved for World ID carriers.
Then with Match Group, Mother House of Tinder, who will test age verification via eye scan in Japan. Clearly: your iris will not only be used to prove that you are human, but also to flirt, pay, and maybe tomorrow … vote?
However, this crypto project is not unanimous. Some governments, such as Hong Kong, have already requested data collection by World. Because yes, although the founders assure that the data is decentralized and impossible to reconstruct, the distrust persists. Especially since the promise of absolute anonymity has never really resisted the major economic ambitions.
Altman claims to want to keep the human at the center in a world where AI occupies more and more space. Commendable? Maybe. But for that, should we really scan the eyes of the whole world? The question remains open, and the answer will undoubtedly depend on the degree of membership of citizens. Or their weariness in the face of the invasion of bots.
In summary, World has not only launched a technology: it turned on a wick. That of a new debate on identity, private life and the place of humans in the BTC ecosystem. The project could well redraw our relationship to technology, by imposing a global biometric standard … or upset the full force on the wall of mistrust. One thing is certain: all eyes are on him. Meanwhile, Mastercard also tries to redistribute the cards, by announcing strategic partnerships to revolutionize payments in crypto.
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