Sam Altman's Eye-Scanning ID Startup World Enters UK

World, the biometric identity verification startup co-founded by Sam Altman, is expanding its operations to the U.K.

World will make its iris-scanning device, known as Orb, available from Thursday in the U.K. in London. The startup plans to expand its services to other cities, including Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Belfast, over the coming months, the company said in its announcement.

Formerly known as Worldcoin, World (WLD.X) is an identity authentication and cryptocurrency project co-founded by OpenAI's Altman – the project aims to prove the“humanness” of users.

“World ID is not intended to replace or serve as a government ID- World does not know who you are, just that you are a unique human,” the company said, as it seeks to address privacy concerns which have plagued it since the 2021 launch.

Spanish data protection watchdog AEPD said in December that World must delete all iris data it had collected.

The company said that users in the U.K. now have complete access to the World network – this includes the iris-scanning Orb, the World app, and the WLD cryptocurrency.

Users who sign up for the network are given some WLD coins to get started.

Beyond the cryptocurrency aspect, World's primary feature is the“World ID” – this is an anonymous identifier that can be used to sign in to applications that support it.

The company said World ID maintains anonymity while allowing governments and organizations to authenticate that a particular user is a human and not a bot.

It also says that identification data is stored on the users' devices, while the company does not store any personal information or biometric data.

Earlier, World expanded its footprint in the U.S. with six retail flagship shops across Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Nashville.

WLD prices edged up by 0.43% at the time of writing.

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