Oct 17, 2024 - Technology

Sam Altman's Worldcoin rebrands as project broadens

Ina Fried

A silver orb with a copper camera in the middle — The new World Orb. Photo: World

Worldcoin, the identity and cryptocurrency venture co-founded by Sam Altman, is rebranding itself as World (and World Network) to reflect what it says is a broader mission.

Why it matters: World is pitching its technologies as key to helping distinguish bots from humans in an increasingly AI-dominated society.

Driving the news: In addition to the new name, Altman and co-founder Alex Blania used a San Francisco event to unveil a series of updates including a new version of its Orb iris-scanning technology.

World said the new version of the Orb is powered by Nvidia's latest Jetson chipset and has nearly five times the AI performance and also uses fewer parts.
The venture says the new Orb will allow for a broader roll-out including self-service kiosks.

Beyond the Orb, World is also creating options for people to join its identity project without having their iris scanned.

One new method allows people to scan their NFC-enabled passport. World says the passport will allow people to verify their age, nationality and passport ownership without revealing their identity.
World is also working to integrate its identity verification into other software to help combat deepfakes. The company listed FaceTime, WhatsApp and Zoom as among the applications compatible with its digital ID system.
The company also is updating its mobile app to support "mini apps" from various third parties.

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Sam Altman's Worldcoin rebrands as project broadens

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