Shut out by privacy regulators skeptical of his iris-scanning ID scheme, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is taking a different route. He’s now turning to the financial sector to pitch World ID, a digital identity platform built on the premise that artificial intelligence has made it impossible to tell humans from machines. It’s a solution aimed at solving a problem AI itself has created.
During a US Federal Reserve conference focused on banking regulation, Altman framed his biometric identity project as essential for navigating a world where digital fraud is growing rapidly.
He argued that most authentication systems have already been rendered ineffective. “AI has fully defeated most of the ways that people authenticate – all of these fancy, take a selfie, wave, or do your voice or whatever,” Altman said. He added, “I am very nervous that we have a significant impending fraud crisis.”
Altman’s proposed remedy, of course, is World ID, a global digital identity system that uses iris scans to verify individuals and stores this verification through blockchain infrastructure.