Welcome to World
In Kludder this week: We do a deep-dive on World and their eye-scanning orb. Chinese self-driving cars are set to hit European roads, workers hide AI-usage from their boss, Grok has got a hang-up on white genocide, and Donald Trump has a lucrative new side-hustle.
Sam Altman is best known as the man behind OpenAI and ChatGPT. But he also has another project in the works: He wants to give you an ID that proves you're a real human - by scanning your eyes.
World (formerly known as WorldCoin) has recently expanded its operations to the US. With Sam Altman on the team, the company organized a major launch on May 1st in San Francisco. There they showcased their Orb - a round sphere designed to verify humans in a digital world that is becoming increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence.
The problem OpenAI has created
World's business model is quite simple: With artificial intelligence and chatbots powered by AI, the internet will drown in realistic AI bots. Distinguishing between who is human and what is an AI will become increasingly difficult. Social media, online games, internet meeting places, and dating apps are expected to overflow with artificial intelligence trying to deceive you.
By scanning your iris and downloading the World app, you get a completely unique ID that proves you're human. Using the small sphere called Orb, the process is meant to be both quick and safe. World chose iris scanning because they believe it provides the most accurate biometric result.
We wanted to ensure that humans remain unique and central in a world where the internet is going to have a lot of AI-driven content
Altman said at the launch in San Francisco. World states that they do not store your biometric data. What is stored is a unique ID code linked to your eye.
Cryptocurrency as an incentive
To get people to register, World tempts them with its own cryptocurrency, WorldCoin. After scanning your eye, you use the app and receive a bonus in the form of WLD (WorldCoin). But the new company is facing blowback: World was blocked in Spain, fined in Argentina, and in Hong Kong the company's six offices were raided.
Distributing cryptocurrency is a central part of World's growth strategy. Particularly in developing countries, the money has become an attractive incentive. In Kenya, it's estimated that over 350,000 people have taken World up on the offer, and in 2023 it became chaotic in the capital Nairobi.
Thousands lined up to register and receive money in return. The chaos led Kenyan authorities to order World to halt the enrollment of new users due to uncertainty related to privacy. But World has continued the practice, and you can still receive the cryptocurrency if you sign up today.
Strategic launch in the US
The company's choice to enter the American market now is hardly coincidental. In early March, US President Donald Trump announced that he wants to make the country the world's crypto capital.
In his second term as president, Trump has filled the administration with "crypto-friendly" people. One of them is Paul Atkins, a former advisor to the crypto industry, who is now chairman of The Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, the US Department of Justice has recently shut down an initiative aimed at preventing crypto crime. On top of it all, the president has launched his own cryptocurrency, Trump Coin. For Altman and World, there has been an enormous change compared to Joe Biden's presidency, which wanted to scrutinize crypto actors more closely.
Given all this, a World launch in the USA makes sense.
Universal basic income and Tinder collaboration
World is set to become much more than a fancy eye scanner. WorldCoin is the cryptocurrency that, according to Altman, will ensure that earnings from increasingly powerful AI tools go to the people. Altman has long been an advocate for universal basic income (a guaranteed income for all citizens). He believes a global, digital ID system for humans, together with the banking solution that WorldCoin offers, could make this possible.
The company has already established a number of collaborations. At the end of April, the company announced that they are entering into a partnership with Match Group, which owns the popular dating app Tinder. Japanese Tinder users can verify themselves as real humans by using Orb, an attempt to eliminate fake accounts that flourish on the app.
With its own cryptocurrency and its own "world ID," everything is set for World to take a bite out of the consumer market. Together with Visa, they have created The World Card, which lets you use WorldCoin wherever Visa is accepted. It's speculated that the card may provide certain benefits if you use it for subscriptions or services related to AI, and Altman's other company, OpenAI, is surely on that list.
Alex Blania is the CEO of the company Tools for Humanity, which develops the products and services World will deliver. Blania has previously said that he wants to make World "the largest financial network in the world." The collaboration with Visa could be a big step on the way.
The battle for the super app
Sam Altman is not the first to try to lock the world into one app. World App seems to have the same goal as Elon Musk's company X Corporation. When Musk bought Twitter in 2022, his stated goal was to be able to turn it into the "Everything app."
The all-in-one app – is closer than everyone thinks! Nothing can slow us down. X is part of a constellation of companies working to improve humanity. We're moving quickly for our communities, creators, and businesses!! - Linda Yaccarino, CEO, X Corporation.
Elon Musk wants X to become the online bank, the dating app, and the place where you find a new job. He has been inspired by Chinese WeChat, which is both a social medium and a tool for ordering various services:
You practically live on WeChat in China because it's so user-friendly and useful in everyday life, and I think that if we can achieve that, or even come close to it on Twitter, it would be a huge success - Elon Musk
Microsoft has also entertained the idea of a super app that can deliver "everything."
Two sides of the same coin
With World, Altman is trying to solve the problem his other company, OpenAI, has helped create. Some accuse Altman of profiting from, and creating, both the problem and the solution. Another way to see it is that Altman is doing what many tech people before him have not done: Taking responsibility for finding a solution to his own problem. But a global system that scans your eye can become a dangerous tool if it falls into the wrong hands, with possibilities for surveillance and monitoring of individuals.
There's also something off about money being handed out for registering in a system. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and in this case, we don't quite know what the price will be.
What we do know is that Altman - just like Elon Musk - dreams of creating one app to rule them all.
Grok only wants to talk about genocide
xAI, Elon Musk's company that develops artificial intelligence, is behind the language model Grok. The model, which is integrated into the social media platform X, brought up the topic of "white genocide" in completely unrelated questions and prompts from users:
Donald Trump's new business
I briefly touched on it earlier, with President Donald Trump's embrace of crypto. This article from The Atlantic provides a good deep dive into how the cryptocurrency $TRUMP has become a money-making machine for the president.
Hidden AI use among employees
A survey conducted by Ivanti shows that a third of British employees use AI tools in secret. According to The Times, there are mainly two reasons why they don't tell their boss: They want to give themselves some efficiency advantages, but are also afraid of losing their jobs if it's discovered.
Self-driving cars to Europe
The competition to win the driver-less race is ramping up. The Chinese company Baidu plans to launch self-driving cars in Europe, initially in Turkey and Switzerland. At the same time, Uber has plans to launch robotaxis in Europe during 2026.