OpenAI applies for IPO, while Altman's $2.5 billion eye-scanning company is reported to lay off employees

OpenAI announced on Monday local time that it had secretly filed for an initial public offering (IPO), which could become one of the most iconic listings in nearly a decade. According to Business Insider, Tools for Humanity, another company owned by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is undergoing layoffs.

The public is more familiar with Tools for Humanity's identity verification project, World, and the accompanying device—the oddly shaped silver spherical eye scanner. The company's vision is to complete identity verification through unique iris scanning technology. In an era of increasing automation crafted by Altman, this technology can distinguish between human operation and robot program behavior. At the same time, companies also verify users' identities with iris scan results to support transactions of their own cryptocurrency, Worldcoin.

Although the company's development goals are vague and highly questioned, it has still secured funding, with a post-investment valuation of $2.5 billion (IT Home Note: approximately 16.987 billion yuan at current exchange rates), with participation from blockchain-focused investment institutions such as Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital. However, due to struggles with revenue, the company is now scaling down.

In the United States, companies like Tinder, Zoom, and Docusign have all partnered with Altman's side project. In overseas markets, however, Tools for Humanity is embroiled in regulatory and ethical controversies. For example, in Kenya, India, and Hong Kong, the company has collected biometric data from the public in exchange for $50 worth of Worldcoin. Kenya subsequently halted Worldcoin's operations in the region entirely, citing privacy and financial risks; South Korea also fined the company $830,000 (approximately 5.64 million yuan at current exchange rates) for allegedly violating local privacy regulations.

It’s easy to understand: no one wants to hand over their biometric data to a startup for just $50 worth of cryptocurrency.