Sam Altman Wants To Scan Your Eyeball in Exchange for Cryptocurrency (bloomberg.com) 61
Sam Altman has a new startup that intends to give a special type of cryptocurrency to every person on earth. But first, it wants to scan everybody's eyeballs. From a report: Altman, the former head of the Silicon Valley business incubator Y Combinator, is one of three founders of the company Worldcoin. Among the many parts of its plan, Worldcoin has designed an orb-shaped device that would scan a person's iris to construct a unique personal identifier. The company is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital arm of Coinbase Global Inc., LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Day One Ventures. It recently raised about $25 million from investors.
Altman, 36, said in an interview that he conceived the idea in late 2019. The intention was to use cryptocurrency to spread money around equitably, inspired by the trendy economic theory known as universal basic income. Altman was the first investor in Worldcoin but said he has no role in day-to-day operations and mainly serves as an adviser to the company when needed. "I've been very interested in things like universal basic income and what's going to happen to global wealth redistribution and how we can do that better," Altman said. "Is there a way we can use technology to do that at global scale?"
Altman, 36, said in an interview that he conceived the idea in late 2019. The intention was to use cryptocurrency to spread money around equitably, inspired by the trendy economic theory known as universal basic income. Altman was the first investor in Worldcoin but said he has no role in day-to-day operations and mainly serves as an adviser to the company when needed. "I've been very interested in things like universal basic income and what's going to happen to global wealth redistribution and how we can do that better," Altman said. "Is there a way we can use technology to do that at global scale?"
Fringe benefits (Score:2)
Free eye test and cryptocurrency
Re:Fringe benefits (Score:5, Insightful)
No thank you to the eyescan.
And a question pops into my head...if everyone has the exact same amount of money, worth the same equity, not equality....is money worth anything then?
LOL @ bitcoin boomer logic (Score:3, Insightful)
bitcoin boomer: "Bitcoin is the best. All fiat is shit!"
Bystander: "Uh, Ok boomer. So how do I get Bitcoin then?"
bitcoin boomer: "You can mine it with an ASIC, or buy it."
Bystander: "So how do I get an ASIC to do that?"
bitcoin boomer: "You can buy one, they cost several hundred $USD, plus electricity costs to mine the Bitcoin".
Bystander: "Ok, so how do I 'buy' Bitcoin instead? How much is it?"
bitcoin boomer: "You can buy it with money (duh!). It's over $35000 USD right now."
Bystander: "Wow, ok. Uh w
Re: (Score:1)
Re: Shitcoins are specifically designed for Sucker (Score:2)
There's a limited quantity of gold too.
Re: (Score:2)
Example: I once got a PS2 in the college dorms by trading a guitar for it. I had a guitar I didn't want, they had a PS2 they didn't want... everyone walked away happy. Now imagine instead of PS2, the guy had an ASIC or some amount of BTC I wanted, and he was willing to part with it for a guitar...
or a few hours of labor
Re: (Score:2)
So you mean the US dollar, or any national currency.
And he'll own the world's most valuable database (Score:5, Insightful)
Just peer into this scanner, citizen.
Re:And he'll own the world's most valuable databas (Score:4, Informative)
Which will then get stolen and so available to criminals everywhere.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Just find the Minority Report.
Re: (Score:2)
Or BladeRunner 2049.
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly. Put the public in fear of violent replicants who are illegal aliens back on earth and require Voight-Kampff tests for everyone. Once that's done all they need is a simple retinal scan.
Now criminals will blind people (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Easier to just use a high resolution camera, a printer and a contact lens [csoonline.com]
Uh, your iris changes over time (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Big brother is scanning you (Score:2)
Nuff said
Failure (Score:3)
This isn't going to work well in the long term because aging is a thing and yes, the topography of your cornea does change as your sight declines.
Should be fine assuming rescans (Score:1)
As long as we rescan the cornea periodically, we can call "you" the average data point from the last N scans close enough to match you. That handles slow drift from aging.
My most rapid eye change was from scratching my cornea. That changed my prescription within days, and it then took two years to stabilize. On the plus side, that eye is now almost 20/20 at distance. Score one for accidental radial keratotomy.
Unless you wear contacts. (Score:2)
If you wear contacts during the scan will return a completely smooth surface. So, not good if you don't have perfect sight.
biometrics = bad (Score:1)
"Worldcoin has designed an orb-shaped device that would scan a person's iris to construct a unique personal identifier."
In related news, I will be marketing grapefruit spoons to cybercriminals.
Slashdot reader wants Sam Altman to (Score:3)
Free coin to everyone on earth (Score:2)
I can give free coin to everyone on earth, too. This morning. Everyone gets 1 hundred billion new coin!
Re: (Score:1)
Yeah... that makes mining easy (Score:2)
Just construct a little device that presents new iris images to that device, that way you can create lots of identities which can get money. Why do crypto currency proponents always have to be so naive?
What could possibly go wrong (Score:2)
eyes are too public (Score:1)
People will eventually be able to see retinal information in ultra high definition photography with machine learning powered image filtering. This is a good idea but the scan should be of some place more private. Anal whorls have been shown to be uniquely identifying.
Gonna have to compete with my fingerprintcoin (Score:1)
How stupid does he think we are? ...Oh. In that case, I think I'll start a series of coins based on fingerprints. Just give me a high-res full set and I'll name a star after you. Star names will be tradeable with a blockchain. Really pretty stars (or fingerprints) will be worth more.
Job requiring a security clearance? (Score:2)
Wouldn't agreeing to this restrict your ability to get certain jobs that require a security clearance.
Oh look (Score:2)
The guy who was behind turning the non-profit, public-use OpenAI into a for-profit scam now has another scheme to collect cash at the expense of the little guy
When will we see first eyeball removed? (Score:2)
Hopefully no criminals start ripping out peoples eyeballs to access their free money.
Minority Report (Score:2)
Right again....
It was correct about most of the future tech and privacy trends..
Raising money? (Score:1)
Why do they even need to raise investing money if they can create it from nothing?
Re (Score:1)
Large number of reasons this is a terrible idea. (Score:2)
Most have probably been mentioned here already, but here's a short list: