OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman is securing $100 million in funding for the company’s dystopian iris-scanning technology to create a global cryptocurrency called Worldcoin, according to The Financial Times. The company is preparing to launch Worldcoin in the next few weeks.
The funds are being procured from new and old investors, according to sources familiar with the matter. Previous investors include FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried who is facing charges for major fraud, internet entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund, and Khosla Ventures.
The company plans to use iris-scanning technology to create a global digital ID that will be used to access Worldcoin.
Privacy-preserving, is how Altman phrased all this – and said that the iris recognition was there to make sure users “do not claim their free share more than once.”
The big takeaway – if you believe it – is that right now, “iris recognition technology is capable of distinguishing individuals on a billion person scale.”
A TechCrunch investigation reportedly discovered the susceptibility of WorldCoin operators’ devices to a password-stealing malware, raising substantial questions about the robustness of Worldcoin’s security mechanisms.
These Worldcoin operators, who are in charge of managing the company’s biometric devices and are rewarded for every new user they recruit, have allegedly fallen victim to this insidious malware.
The worrisome component of this malware is the Worldcoin variant, which has the capability to extract saved passwords from victims’ browsers.
Worldcoin executives claim that their coin solves two issues; differentiating between human and bots and providing a global income to compensate for the job losses that will be caused by AI. After creating a digital ID, users can receive Worldcoin tokens for free.
The company has already been criticized for the privacy risks that come with biometric scanning.
