The Orb: Sam Altman's Bid to Prove Humanity in an AI World

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Alex Blania, CEO of Tools for Humanity, have developed the Orb, a device that scans irises to issue a 'Proof of Humanity' credential. The Orb, which resembles a gleaming silver volleyball, is part of a broader initiative originally called Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project aimed at universal basic income. The company, founded in 2019, has pivoted away from crypto and now focuses on human verification for the internet. The Orb has been deployed in over 30 countries, with 40 million people on the network and 18 million fully verified. However, it has faced regulatory scrutiny and bans in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Kenya, and Spain. The article traces the history of human identification, from ancient branding to modern biometrics, and discusses the rise of CAPTCHA and bot-detection companies like HUMAN and DataDome. It highlights the shift from blocking bots to distinguishing good bots from bad ones, and the philosophical questions raised by AI. Tools for Humanity, valued at $2.5 billion, recently laid off staff amid strategic shifts. WorldID is integrated into apps like Zoom, Tinder, and Shopify. The article also references science fiction, including works by Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick, to explore the concept of proving humanity.