Worldcoin, the ambitious cryptocurrency and human identity verification project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has undergone a rebranding and is now known simply as World. Along with the new name, World has introduced an updated version of its Orb device, a machine designed to verify whether a person is human—aiming to address the challenges of identity in an era increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence (AI).
The Orb, an eyeball-scanning device, issues a World ID to registered users, allowing them to “securely and anonymously” prove their human identity online. In addition, registered users receive a share of the project’s WLD cryptocurrency tokens. However, the WLD tokens are not available in the United States, despite the World ID services being active there.
The new Orb is designed with 30 percent fewer parts compared to its earlier version, a change that aims to make it cheaper and easier to manufacture. It also features Nvidia’s robotics and AI platform, Jetson, to enhance its capabilities. Rich Heley, the chief device officer at Tools for Humanity—the organization behind the World project—emphasized the need for widespread availability of the Orb. “To provide access to every human, we need more Orbs. Lots more Orbs. Probably on the order of a thousand times more Orbs than we have today,” Heley explained during a recent event. “Not only more Orbs but more Orbs in more places.”
World plans to expand its reach by offering people the option to buy or rent an Orb for use in their communities. This move aims to boost the number of Orbs and facilitate more widespread verification of “unique humans.” The project is also introducing a new service called “Orb on Demand”, which allows people to order an Orb “much like a pizza you would have delivered to your apartment,” according to Heley.
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World is expanding its services to more countries, including Costa Rica, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and others. This broader reach is part of the project’s goal to verify more users worldwide, despite facing various regulatory hurdles in certain regions.
Since its inception, World has verified nearly 7 million “unique humans” globally. However, the project has faced scrutiny and criticism over privacy concerns, particularly related to creating a global database based on biometric data. Last year, Kenyan authorities temporarily suspended the project while investigating its data collection practices, but they have since dropped the investigation. Other countries, such as Hong Kong, have asked World to cease operations due to privacy risks, while both Portugal and Spain have also taken regulatory action against the project.
Despite these challenges, World continues to push forward, aiming to offer a new approach to verifying human identity in the digital age. With its updated Orb and plans for wider availability, the project is betting that its vision of a future where people can prove their humanity online will resonate, even as questions about privacy and data security remain.