Sam Altman’s Worldcoin turns attention from Europe to Asia

Open AI CEO Sam Altman’s crypto biometrics startup, Worldcoin, is looking to shift its focus away from Europe into Asia. This comes as the iris-scanning project faces regulatory hurdles across the region.

Fabian Bodensteiner, managing director of the project’s Europe subsidiary and a founding team member, said at a recent summit that the company is now focusing on markets where local companies and governments were receptive to embrace new technologies.

He said the company sees a “larger dynamic” in other regions and that Europe is not a major focus. “We just see a larger dynamic in other regions of the world, and because we’re not 1000 employees, we need to prioritize where we see the biggest business opportunities.”

Bodensteiner said there are more substantial business prospects in other regions despite most of its products being built in Europe. He continued that the countries in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, such as Japan and Malaysia, and Latin American jurisdictions like Argentina, look more promising in terms of technology adoption. He noted that the company is working with several prominent game publishers in the APAC region to integrate Worldcoin’s technology into their platforms.

Worldcoin’s history and critics

Sam Altman co-founded Worldcoin in 2023. The company runs on the idea to use biometric data from eye scans to provide a ‘World ID’ to every person on the planet. It is an online verification concept that proves they are human beings through a ‘proof of personhood’ concept, verifying an individual as a unique human being.

The unique ID will be given via chrome sphere devices known as ‘Orbs.’ Participants can claim the project’s cryptocurrency, WLD, for taking part in the project.

Critics have argued against Worldcoin’s iris scanning practice, raising serious privacy concerns regarding the same. They believe that collecting biometric data on such a large scale could potentially lead to surveillance or data being sold to third parties. The concern remains despite Worldcoin’s constant assurances about data security and protection.

Several European countries, including Spain, France, Germany, and Portugal, have launched investigations into the company. The probes focus on whether Worldcoin complies with the strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations governing data protection in the European Union.