OpenAI says it has confidentially filed for an IPO, while Tools for Humanity—co-founded by Sam Altman and known for Worldcoin’s iris-scanning verification—has reportedly started layoffs as it struggles to build revenue, after regulators in several countries ra
On the same Monday OpenAI quietly took a major step toward going public, Sam Altman’s other bet on the future of identity verification was reportedly tightening its belt.
OpenAI announced it has confidentially filed for an IPO, a move that could become one of the defining public offerings of the decade. While that news landed, another Altman-linked company—Tools for Humanity—was said to be conducting layoffs, with confirmation sought by TechCrunch.
The layoffs raise an uncomfortable question: what happens when the same entrepreneur pushing toward the biggest capital markets is also grappling with the business reality of a surveillance-adjacent product that has already drawn intense scrutiny.
Tools for Humanity is tied to World. its verification project. and to a device described as a silver orb designed to scan people’s eyes. The company’s premise is that unique iris scans can verify identity. distinguishing human activity from bot activity in a world becoming more automated. Those scans are also used to validate identities in support of the company’s cryptocurrency, Worldcoin.
That pitch helped Tools for Humanity raise money at a $2.5 billion valuation, backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital and other funds supporting blockchain companies. But the same ambitions now appear to be colliding with a harder metric: revenue.
The reported downsizing comes as Tools for Humanity struggles to create revenue.
In the U.S., companies such as Tinder, Zoom, and Docusign have partnered on Altman’s side project. Internationally, Tools for Humanity has faced regulatory and ethical pushback. In Kenya. India. and Hong Kong. people were reportedly offered the equivalent of $50 in Worldcoin in exchange for their biometric data. Kenya later banned World from operating in the country, citing privacy and financial concerns.
Regulators in other places have been harsher. South Korea fined the company $830,000 for allegedly violating local privacy law.
Taken together, the picture is difficult to ignore: a company built around biometric verification has attracted partners, investment, and attention—but also provoked privacy alarms across multiple jurisdictions, while its revenue challenge is now strong enough to trigger reported layoffs.
OpenAI IPO Sam Altman Tools for Humanity Worldcoin World iris scanning biometric data layoffs Andreessen Horowitz Bain Capital Kenya ban South Korea privacy fine cryptocurrency verification