Sam Altman’s biometric network, World clocks 10 million users verified

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Worldcoin banned for one year in Kenya

Sam Altman-backed iris-scanning scheme, World (formerly Worldcoin) has announced that it has reached the milestone of verifying 10 million human users on its digital identity network. In a blog post, the World team emphasised how tools like proof of human can help mitigate potential risks associated with AI advancement.

The WorldCoin project was first launched on March 14, along with a waitlist for its software development kit. It describes itself as a digital passport that can help holders prove they are human. According to its whitepaper, paramount to World is the “Proof of personhood” concept.

The World service is accessible through The World App, a wallet which facilitates obtaining World ID and WLD through biometric verification using The Orb, a device that scans users’ irises while ensuring complete privacy. 

It was launched in countries like Kenya and Argentina in July 2023 as part of a large identity database creation scheme. The company offered cash rewards for people who wish to have their iris scanned. The company also collected other biometric details for identity.

worldcoin

The company says proof of personhood is necessary due to rapid AI development, which threatens the reliability of information and intellectual property rights. “As AI agents evolve, proof of human will likely provide the cornerstone for enabling ethical and scalable AI, ensuring humans remain empowered creators in a world increasingly shaped by intelligent machines”, the post said.

Read also: Here is all you need to know about Worldcoin; the proof of personhood project

The post also provided clarity on the concept of AI agents and how they are likely to be used in the near future. OpenAI CEO and World Network co-creator Sam Altman mentioned. the concept at the New York Times DealBook Summit in December 2024: “Agents are the thing everyone is talking about, I think for good reason”.

AI agents are autonomous systems capable of performing highly complex tasks including reasoning, planning, adapting, using tools and correcting errors all on their own. “Unlike automated bots designed to perform narrow, predefined tasks which became commonplace in 2024, AI agents can function autonomously to perform complex, independent actions”, the post. explained.

While no one can say exactly how influential AI agents will be, the list of their potential use cases is extensive.

Companies like Meta are already planning to release such autonomous agents throughout their social platforms like Facebook and Instagram to create profiles, interact with people and in general supplement (or replace) human accounts.

“This idea that you can give an AI system a pretty complicated task…that takes a while to do, and go and use a bunch of tools and create something that has value. That’s the kind of thing I’d expect next year, and that’s a huge deal”, Sam Altman said in December.

The trials of World

World has drawn significant legal scrutiny and has been ordered by state regulators in multiple jurisdictions to cease operations.

Kenya was the first country to ban World, on Aug. 2, 2023, citing potential national security and privacy risks from the collection and storage of biometric data. In March 2024, World was ordered to stop collecting data in Spain for three months and later agreed to suspend operations for the rest of 2024.

Alex Blania's tweet on Worldcoin suspension

The suspension followed a probe from Spain’s Agency for the Protection of Data over allegations of denying user consent withdrawal and collecting data from minors. The company denied the claims and insisted that it operates lawfully in all the jurisdictions covered by the network.

Portugal also banned World for 90 days in March — citing the need to protect the privacy rights of citizens and prevent potentially unlawful harvesting of biometric data. Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ordered World to cease operations in Hong Kong in May.

More recently, in September, South Korea fined World 1.1 billion Korean won, valued at $829,000, for allegedly violating personal data protection laws.


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