--- title: "More Than a Dozen Countries Now Investigating Sam Altman’s Dubious Eye-Scanning Scheme" description: "Sam Altman's Worldcoin has faced scrutiny in more than a dozen countries because nobody really knows what it does with all those eyeballs. " date: "2024-08-19" modified: "2024-08-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sam-altman-worldcoin-investigation" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "biometrics" - "sam altman" - "the digest" - "worldcoin" --- # More Than a Dozen Countries Now Investigating Sam Altman’s Dubious Eye-Scanning Scheme ![Sam Altman's Worldcoin has faced scrutiny in more than a dozen countries because nobody really knows what it does with all those eyeballs. ]() *\Image: Juan Mabromata / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* ## Philanthropic Privacy Sam Altman's lesser-known venture, a [bizarre iris-scanning crypto project called Worldcoin](), has faced scrutiny in more than a dozen countries because nobody really knows what it does with all those eyeball scans. As the [*Wall Street Journal* reports](), jurisdictions around the world have cast a long shadow over the nominally altruistic project, which somehow seeks to marry crypto and biometrics to eventually provide a universal basic income for an unidentified number of people. The scheme is [supposed to work like this](): you scan your iris with the metallic orb, operated by a volunteer enthusiast, and get 25 of its bespoke cryptocurrency coins in exchange. After that, your iris is attached to your identity on Worldcoin's supposedly secure blockchain, the [opaque privacy]() of which is the subject of ample suspicion by governments worldwide. By our count, based on reporting from the *WSJ* and the [nonprofit *Rest of World*](), Worldcoin has been under government scrutiny in at least 14 countries on three continents, including [France](), the [United Kingdom](), [South Korea](), and [Chile](). Those numbers don't exactly inspire confidence — and neither do the company's moves to dissuade such scrutiny, either. ## Failure to Launch In an interview with the *WSJ*, Worldcoin's chief privacy officer Damian Kieran said that such distrust was inevitable and that the company is working with regulators. Thus far, however, the only big move to come out of such alleged cooperation is the company's promise to [verify that people signing up are not underage]() after being caught [signing up kids in Portugal]() — which makes the whole thing seem all the more dubious. In many of the countries where the project has been investigated, meanwhile, probes have led to the [currency being suspended]() within its borders. Thus far, only [Kenya]() — which was [one of the first countries]() where the project was piloted — has [closed its probe]() after a year-long suspension of the Altman-led project. In Argentina, the [project was even fined $200,000]() over alleged abusive clauses in its terms of service. Notably, Worldcoin never officially launched its actual cryptocurrency in the United States due to "regulatory uncertainty," per its [other cofounder Alex Bania](), though that didn't stop this reporter from [getting her eyeballs scanned]() in a Brooklyn coworking space using the strange orb. **More on Altman's altruism:** [*Sam Altman Has Been Quietly Giving Out Money for Basic Incom*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()