Worldcoin is no longer presenting itself only as a crypto-linked identity experiment. The project connected to Sam Altman and Alex Blania has been reintroduced as the World Network, or World for short, with new hardware, broader service ambitions and a larger push to make iris-based identity verification easier to access.
At the center is still the Orb: a physical device that scans a person’s iris so the user can create a World ID. The pitch is that, as AI systems become more capable, people may need a way to prove they are human and not a bot. World’s answer is a biometric identity layer tied to an app, local storage claims and a growing network of scanning locations.
A New Orb for a Bigger Identity Network
The latest version of the Orb was shown in San Francisco’s Mission District by Altman and Blania. The event introduced new hardware, software upgrades and expanded services for the project formerly known as Worldcoin.
The Orb now has a pearly appearance and runs on Nvidia’s Jetson chipset. Tools for Humanity says the device “provides nearly 5X the AI performance” to speed up identity verification. Rich Heley, Tools for Humanity chief device officer, made clear that the hardware rollout is central to the plan: “We need more orbs, lots more orbs, probably on the order of a thousand more orbs than we have today.”
The scale matters because the Orb is not just a showcase object. It is the main gateway into World’s identity system. A person has their iris scanned, creates a World ID and then uses that identity credential through the World app and network.
A spokesperson for Tools for Humanity said all attendees at the event could have their iris scanned that day. The spokesperson also said 500 attendees will receive a new Orb when it ships in 2025.
On-Demand Iris Scans Move Into the Real World
World is also trying to make Orb access feel less like a special event and more like an available service. In Latin America, starting next year, the Orb will be orderable on demand through a partnership with the app Rappi. The idea is simple: a person requests an Orb, the device arrives at the door, the iris scan is completed, and the Orb leaves.
Tools for Humanity designer Thomas Meyerhoffer said that the SD card arriving at someone’s door has no prior data. That detail is part of the company’s effort to address trust around a device that captures biometric information inside a private setting.
World also says it is opening two Orb-scanning spaces in Buenos Aires and Mexico City. Beyond those dedicated spaces, the Orb could appear in neighborhood corner stores or coffee shops, where users may be able to order an iris scan alongside everyday purchases.
The current footprint is already broader than a single launch market. The source states that there are four locations in the US where users can “find your nearest Orb,” and 333 Orb sites globally.
Privacy Claims Sit at the Core of the Pitch
The Orb is a biometric capture device, which makes privacy central to how World is received. Once the iris scan is taken, the resulting biometric data connects to the World app. That raises direct questions about where the data goes, who controls it and how it can be used.
Blania says that when a user creates a World ID and has an iris scan stored in the World app, the information is encrypted and stored only on local devices. He also said, “And again, there is no data stored in any central place or anything.”
Those claims are important because the project has already faced scrutiny. Two and a half years ago, Worldcoin was examined over allegedly deceptive and exploitative practices in recruiting people to scan their irises. Blania previously attributed that conduct to the organization still being in its “startup” phase.
In an interview with WIRED, Blania said the company is doing “like, a thousand things” to make the consent process more rigorous. He said that includes an “operational team” in every market where World will operate, along with “explanations” in the World app describing how the product works.
Deep Face Expands the Identity Use Case
World’s software ambitions now extend beyond proving that a person is human. Altman and Blania say World ID has been expanded to support several hundred million credentials, compared with approximately 7 million World ID holders who are already “Orb-verified.”
The company is also launching Deep Face, a feature described as a way to fight fraud. It is intended to work with virtual communication apps such as FaceTime, WhatsApp and Zoom. The concept is that if someone appears on a video call pretending to be a verified user, the app would identify that the person is not the real user.
WIRED asked Blania how Deep Face could work while matching the company’s privacy principles, since the feature would require some form of facial recognition. Blania described a setup where a person’s World ID runs locally on their Mac computer and acts as an app layer over a video chat when the person logs in and uses the device’s camera.
There is a key limitation in the current plan: World does not have official partnerships with Apple, Meta, or Zoom for this solution. The company said only that the World app will “support” these processes.
From Crypto Roots to a Broader Network Strategy
World also said its blockchain network is now live, calling it “the world’s first blockchain designed for humans.” Several million World ID holders and World App users are expected to be migrated to the new underlying blockchain network.
Although the project has roots in crypto tokens, the event placed less emphasis on the word “crypto.” Instead, Altman and Blania highlighted blockchain services, digital asset management and virtual communication tools.
Blania said during the press briefing that World hopes to build the “largest finance network” on the planet. In a separate interview with WIRED, he said regular Sunday meetings at Atlman’s house included inspiration from the rise of PayPal. The team saw itself building a token network on a distributed system, in a way that echoed how digital payments reshaped online commerce.
For now, the World app is free to use, and scanning an iris is free as well. Tools for Humanity is venture-backed and focused on scaling the identity verification market. Blania said the organization may eventually make money through processing fees.
Most of the expansion plans are outside the US for now, because a spokesperson said regulations around crypto stateside are murky. In the US, users can scan and store an iris through the Orb and compatible app, but they will not receive a crypto token.
Regulatory attention remains a significant part of the story. In 2023, governments in Germany, Brazil, India, South Korea, and Kenya were investigating the service over concerns about biometric data storage and use. Kenya suspended Worldcoin enrollment entirely. South Korea fined the company. Worldcoin suspended its own service in India, Brazil, and France.
World’s new chapter therefore has two linked stories. One is a product expansion: more Orbs, more locations, a new app layer, a live blockchain and a wider identity network. The other is a trust test: whether people, partners and regulators will accept iris scanning as a practical foundation for proving who is human online.