Sam Altman’s Creepy Eyeball-Scanning Company Gets in Bed With Zoom and Tinder

Sam Altman's controversial biometric startup, Worldcoin, has secured major partnerships with Zoom and Tinder to push its iris-scanning verification system. The company's 'World ID' requires users to visit a physical 'Orb' device to have their eyeballs scanned, creating a unique biometric identifier. Tinder, after a successful pilot in Japan, will now roll this out globally, requiring verification for users and offering five free profile 'boosts' as an incentive. Zoom will integrate 'World ID Deep Face,' a system that cross-references the Orb scan with a real-time face check during video calls to grant a 'Verified Human' badge.

Worldcoin is also targeting the ticketing industry with new 'Concert Kit' software, designed to ensure only verified humans—not scalper bots—can purchase tickets. This expansion comes despite significant public skepticism and past criticism that Worldcoin's model of trading cryptocurrency for biometric data was exploitative. The company claims 18 million verified users, though many signed up in developing nations for the now-deemphasized crypto rewards. With Zoom's workplace dominance and Tinder's global reach, these partnerships represent a major push to normalize invasive biometric checks for access to essential digital services, raising profound questions about privacy, infrastructure scale, and the future of digital identity.