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Sam Altman’s World Wants My Iris — He Can Keep It.

Sam Altman’s World Wants My Iris — He Can Keep It.

Eye‐scanning Orbs, free crypto, and why my biometrics aren’t up for barter.

Cosmo Scharf
May 06, 2025

Hey everyone, it’s Cosmo.

Would you scan your eyeball for free crypto? I’m not.

Sam Altman’s side‑quest World (fka Worldcoin) launched its eye‑scanning Orbs in the U.S. this week, complete with Stripe and Visa partnerships and a new Orb Mini.

I resonate with Alex Heath’s take from the launch party:

❝

“I’m still kind of grappling with why people would want to do this… This whole thing feels a bit like Black Mirror. It feels a little too sci‑fi to be real, and I think people will naturally be very skeptical of something like this.”

Exactly—Black Mirror was supposed to warn us off dystopias, not inspire them.

Yes, we need ways to prove humanness in an AI‑soaked world, but that problem isn’t visceral enough for me to hand over my biometric data. World can publish all the privacy guarantees it wants; after decades of breaches, I struggle to trust any tech company’s database to stay harmless.

The whole setup reminds me of my recent TSA PreCheck registration: fingerprints traded for the privilege of keeping my shoes on, like in the old days. After years of resisting, I caved—and admit the trade‑off was worth it.

So why do I feel more comfortable giving my fingerprint to the state but not my iris to World? The crypto incentive feels like a tell: something else is going on.

I appreciate the Orb’s technical wizardry, but my eyes won’t be entering its gaze anytime soon.