rewrite this title Sam Altman’s Eyeball-Scanning Crypto Project Hits the US ‘At Last’ – Decrypt

The promise of free crypto in exchange for your biometric data is now live in the U.S., courtesy of World, the eyeball-scanning project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

It announced Wednesday that it is officially rolling out its orbs in six major American cities: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. While it toured its orbs around the U.S. in earlier promotional efforts, it stopped short of offering full services stateside.

The U.S. debut for World, formerly known as Worldcoin, comes far later than other jurisdictions across Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. 

Previously, World’s terms and conditions barred Americans from receiving its WLD crypto tokens, which are paid out to those who obtain a World ID through an eyeball scan, due to regulatory risk.

Under Trump, it seems that’s changed.

“The United States of America stands at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation. Now, it’s time for the world’s AI hub to embrace the essential counterpart: proof of human,” World said in a statement.

“World launches in the USA, at last,” the title of its announcement reads.

Globally, World claims more than 12 million people have already enrolled on its platform, with over 400,000 signing up in just the past week. 

It believes this biometric credential is necessary proof of personhood in a world increasingly overrun by AI-generated content—a threat that, ironically, Altman helped create through his leadership at OpenAI.

The company behind World, Tools for Humanity, argues that World ID is a privacy-first digital identity solution. Its co-founders, Altman and Alex Blania, tout cryptographic protections and claim that data remains on users’ devices, not on central servers. 

But critics aren’t exactly reassured.

World has been the target of fierce backlash from privacy groups, data watchdogs, and regulators across the globe. Police in multiple countries have raided World outposts, which has led to the project being suspended in places like Hong Kong. 

In Germany, regulators demanded in December that World delete biometric data over GDPR violations. It appealed the decision. 

In February, Brazilian regulators denied an appeal by World to lift restrictions on its operations in the country. World said its locations in Brazil would remain open “to provide education and information to the public.”

Recruitment tactics have also drawn scrutiny. Reports allege that orb operators have coerced individuals into scans, and a black market has emerged where iris data is reportedly sold for as little as $30.

On Wednesday, World also released a slew of other announcements, including integrations with Tinder owner Match Group, prediction market Kalshi, a visa card and charges for applications using World ID services. 

Decrypt has approached World for comment.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair