Sam Altman's eye-scanning startup reportedly lays off employees
Sam Altman's eye-scanning startup reportedly laid off employees on Monday, the same day his better-known company, OpenAI, said it had taken a formal step toward going public.
Tools for Humanity, the company behind the iris-scanning Orb used by the World ID project, announced the cuts in an internal email to employees, Business Insider reported. The number of affected workers was not immediately clear.
"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," the email said.
Tools for Humanity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The timing offered a split screen of Altman's business interests. OpenAI, where he is CEO, said Monday it had confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering. Tools for Humanity, where he is co-founder and chairman, has faced questions about privacy, regulation and whether its technology can become a major business.
Tools for Humanity builds technology for World, formerly known as Worldcoin. The project uses a silver, spherical device called the Orb to scan a person's iris and create a digital credential meant to prove the user is human.
The company has promoted the technology as a way to separate people from bots as artificial intelligence makes online identity harder to verify. People who sign up can receive Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency connected to the project.
Tools for Humanity says its system protects privacy and does not store users' biometric data after verification. But the project has drawn scrutiny from regulators and privacy advocates because, unlike passwords, biometric identifiers, including iris scans, cannot be changed if compromised.
Regulators in several countries have questioned or restricted World's operations. Hong Kong's privacy commissioner last year ordered the Worldcoin Foundation to stop collecting iris and face images from the public. Kenya suspended the company's operations in 2023.
Tools for Humanity says on its website that it has more than 500 employees and is headquartered in San Francisco and Munich. The company was founded in 2019 by Altman and Alex Blania, its chief executive.
Business Insider reported that the company has struggled to show how the Orb can generate revenue, despite a $2.5 billion valuation and backing from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital and Khosla Ventures.
The layoffs were reported as OpenAI said it submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed IPO, though it has not decided when it might go public.
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