Sam Altman-Founded World Network Bottlenecked By Nvidia Chips: Tools For Humanity Executive Says, 'Once We Have A Lot Of These Orbs....'

Trever Traina, Chief Business Officer of Tools For Humanity, said that the World Network faces not just regulatory hurdles but also logistical challenges in achieving widespread distribution.

‘We’re Working Quickly To Produce Them’

World was launched as a decentralized identity verification project in 2023 to tell real humans from the flood of AI bots online. To do this, they collect people’s biometrics, including irises, through a proprietary device called Orb.

In an exclusive Benzinga interview, Traina acknowledged that the Orb devices are hampered by limited supply.

He said that the devices use chips manufactured by AI giant Nvidia Corp. and are “incredibly sophisticated.”

“There are only so many in the world, even though we’re working quickly to produce them,” Traina said.

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He added that it took a long time for the project to break into the U.S and is just starting to scale up now.

“So it’s not just a regulatory issue, it’s a logistics issue,” Traina emphasized. “Once we have a lot of these Orbs, then we can be in more places.”

Tools For Humanity, a tech company co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is the primary developer of the project.

The Sticking Point

But this very data collection has generated intense global scrutiny about personal data privacy. Countries such as Kenya, Spain, Hong Kong, and India have halted Orb’s verification services, citing violations of local privacy protection laws.

World claims that biometrics are processed, encrypted and then sent directly to the user’s phone, with all data deleted from the Orb’s storage afterward.

“This project is not taking your biometric information. If anything, they’ve almost invented a way to allow you to use biometrics without really giving away biometrics,” Traina stated.

Not Competing With National ID Systems

So, what incentives exist for countries with established biometric national digital IDs to permit their citizens to enrol in an ID program of a U.S.-based private company?

“Our goal is not to replace national ID systems, or driver’s licenses, or stuff like that. We are a more fundamental,
a more profound tool, so we prove with the highest certainty that the user of our ID is a unique human being and not a bot,” Traina said.

Photo courtesy: Tools For Humanity

Sam Altman-Founded World Network Bottlenecked By Nvidia Chips: Tools For Humanity Executive Says, ‘Once We Have A Lot Of These Orbs….’

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