OpenAI has confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering, a move that could turn into one of the largest stock market debuts of the decade. The news comes as Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, is also dealing with turbulence at his other venture, Tools for Humanity, the blockchain startup behind the iris-scanning identity project known as World. According to Business Insider, the company is laying off staff, though TechCrunch has not yet received confirmation from Tools for Humanity directly.
Tools for Humanity gained attention for its eye-scanning "orb" device, which captures users' unique iris patterns to verify that someone is human rather than an AI bot. Those same scans are also tied to the company's cryptocurrency, Worldcoin, which the firm uses to incentivize sign-ups. The company has raised money at a $2.5 billion valuation from Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital, and other blockchain-focused funds, but it now appears to be scaling back as it struggles to generate meaningful revenue. In the U.S., Tinder, Zoom, and Docusign have all experimented with the World verification system.
Internationally, however, the project has run into serious regulatory and ethical headwinds. In Kenya, authorities banned World from operating entirely, citing privacy and financial concerns, while South Korea hit the company with an $830,000 fine for alleged violations of local privacy law. Investigations and suspensions have also surfaced in India and Hong Kong, where residents reported being offered roughly $50 in Worldcoin in exchange for handing over sensitive biometric data. The backlash highlights a recurring problem: people are reluctant to trust a startup with their iris scans in return for a small payout in cryptocurrency, regardless of how futuristic the underlying technology may seem.