On the streets of Buenos Aires, people are eagerly lining up to participate in a unique offer: by allowing their eyes to be scanned, they can receive $60 worth of cryptocurrency. This initiative is part of the latest venture from OpenAI founder Sam Altman and his company World Coin, which has developed eye-scanning orbs to collect biometric data. The controversial methods employed by World Coin have raised concerns about privacy and trust in high-tech solutions.
According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, World Coin has rebranded itself simply as “World” to promote its eye-scanning technology, originally aimed at facilitating cryptocurrency transactions. The company argues that while facial recognition can be easily faked and documents forged, their eye scans are a reliable method for distinguishing between real individuals and artificial intelligence online.
In Chile, Argentina, and Portugal, over 15 million people have already been scanned, with a goal of reaching 1 billion within a year. Reports indicate that individuals are incentivized with cryptocurrency for participating in the scans, leading to a swift 10% drop in World Coin’s value following these revelations.
Take, for example, Lorena Potosi, an unemployed factory worker from Buenos Aires. After being scanned at a subway station, she received 25 tokens, each worth just over $2, totaling around $60. Potosi shared that in Argentina’s struggling economy, where job opportunities are scarce, this small sum could help her buy food and drinks for her children.
In cities like Santiago and Lisbon, about one in seven adults has undergone the scan, whereas in Buenos Aires, that figure has risen to one in three. Critics have raised ethical questions about targeting impoverished nations, suggesting that these offers exploit the vulnerable in exchange for their biometric data. To date, World Coin has distributed 50 million tokens worldwide.
While the eye-scanning machines are still relatively unknown in the United States, Altman and co-founder Alex Blania have recently unveiled the latest version in a warehouse on Folsom Street in San Francisco. They plan to install these scanners in cafes and street corners, with an option for people to order them, akin to pizza delivery. Altman predicts that these machines will soon become as ubiquitous as cash registers.
Blania further noted that the company is in discussions with governments, including in Taiwan, to integrate eye-scanning data into national ID systems, though he emphasized that this would not replace traditional identification methods.
