Just as one of Sam Altman’s companies, OpenAI, is preparing for an IPO, another one is downsizing.
Business Insider reports that Altman’s creepy eyeball-scanning startup, Tools for Humanity, is laying some staff off.
The company is best known for World, formerly Worldcoin, a project designed to verify that people interacting online are human, not AI. Its solution to this problem is for people to get their eyes scanned by a somewhat Orwellian soccer-ball-sized device called the Orb in exchange for a unique digital ID code stored on their phone. In theory, this could help filter out annoying AI bots from gaming, social media platforms, or even financial transactions like concert ticket sales.
Since launching in 2023, World has failed to reach its ambitious goal of scanning a billion people or about an eighth of the world’s population. As of April, the company says it had verified nearly 18 million people via its Orb device. That’s less than 2 percent of its goal.
Now, it seems the company is shifting strategies.
“As we enter the next step of our company strategy and operating priorities, we have made the hard decision to make changes to some roles and teams across the company,” Tools for Humanity wrote in an email sent to staff on Monday, according to Business Insider.
Tools for Humanity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Before the restructuring, the company had more than 500 employees, but there have also been major exits in recent months.
Earlier this year, Tools for Humanity’s Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Architect Adrian Ludwig, as well as its Chief Legal and Privacy Officer Damien Kieran, departed the company.
Those exits were preceded by the departures of the company’s head of protocol and applied research, head of people, head of talent, and head of device product, according to Business Insider.
A former employee told the outlet at the time that challenges with the company’s culture and leadership were partly responsible for the departures.
The startup raised $115 million in Series C funding in 2023. Since then, it has launched an updated World App with new chat and banking features.
In April, the company also announced several integrations meant to bring the World ID protocol to some popular digital platforms. For example, Orb-verified Tinder users can now get a special badge on their profiles. World also announced integrations with Zoom and DocuSign, giving those platforms another way to verify that users are who they say they are.
Still, it’s no surprise that people aren’t exactly running to hand over their biometric data to a Silicon Valley billionaire.
Another part of the adoption problem is simply that people have to physically travel to one of the company’s verification locations. Several countries have already temporarily banned or launched investigations into the company’s biometric technology, citing privacy and data-security concerns.
The exact reason for the layoffs is still unclear. But Altman himself has warned that companies are using AI as a convenient scapegoat for layoffs. Tools for Humanity hasn’t exactly been a booming business, so we’ll be watching to see where the OpenAI CEO places the blame.
