At a popular spot near the San Francisco waterfront, Sam Altman’s verification project World marked its latest phase and ambitious growth. The initiative begins by partnering with Tinder.

Tools for Humanity (TFH), the firm driving the World project, revealed on Friday that it will embed its verification technology into dating platforms, event ticketing networks, corporate entities, email services, and various other sectors of daily life.

Image Credits:World

«The world is approaching incredibly advanced AI, which is accomplishing remarkable things,» Altman noted while addressing a full room at The Midway. «However, we are moving toward an era where AI-generated content will surpass human-created material,» he continued. «I am certain many of you [have experienced] moments where you question, ‘Am I communicating with an AI or a real person, or what is the ratio, and how can I verify?’»

World (previously known as Worldcoin) sets itself apart from other identity verification services by enabling the confirmation that a genuine, living individual is accessing a digital platform while maintaining their privacy. This relies on sophisticated cryptographic methods (specifically, «zero-knowledge proof-based authentication»). The result: The organization is developing what it terms «proof of human» solutions, which are systems designed to confirm human presence in an environment increasingly populated by AI agents and automated bots.

Its primary verification instrument is a spherical device named the Orb, which captures a user’s eye patterns to generate a distinct, anonymous cryptographic code (referred to as a verified World ID). This code can then be utilized to access World’s services, though individuals may also use the World application without possessing an Orb.

Altman’s speech on Friday was concise (TFH’s co-founder and CEO, Alex Blania, was missing due to unexpected hand surgery, according to Altman). He subsequently passed the presentation to World’s chief product officer, Tiago Sada, and his colleagues.

Sada detailed that World is introducing the latest iteration of its application (the previous release was unveiled during a December gathering), alongside numerous new technology integrations.

World has been working for a while to introduce a verification system for dating applications — particularly Tinder. Last year, Tinder initiated a World ID trial program in Japan. This trial reportedly succeeded, prompting World to announce that Tinder would roll out its verification integration across global markets, including the U.S. The system adds a World ID badge to the profiles of users who complete its verification steps, confirming their authenticity as real individuals.

Image Credits:World

World is also targeting the entertainment sector with a new feature called Concert Kit, allowing musicians to set aside specific ticket quantities for World ID-verified attendees. This aims to protect fans from scalpers who frequently employ automated ticket-purchasing bots to secure seats. Concert Kit works with major ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite, and the company is highlighting it through collaborations with 30 Seconds to Mars and Bruno Mars — both of whom intend to utilize it for their upcoming tours.

The gathering featured numerous additional announcements, including those focused on corporate clients. A Zoom/World ID verification integration aims to counter a perceived deepfake risk in business calls, and a Docusign partnership is designed to ensure

Jack Zhang, a 34-year-old entrepreneur who had been leading his startup for three and a half years, found himself in a pivotal meeting with Michael Moritz, a prominent investor from Sequoia Capital. Invited to Moritz’s San Francisco residence, which offered stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Zhang was presented with an offer: Stripe intended to acquire Airwallex for $1.2 billion. At that moment, Airwallex was generating approximately $2 million in annualized revenue, making the valuation seem incredibly lucrative. Moritz emphasized that Patrick Collison, Stripe’s founder, was a visionary leader, suggesting the acquisition could lead to extraordinary growth. Zhang spent two weeks in San Francisco grappling with the decision, eventually agreeing to the deal.

Yet, he soon flew back to Australia, nearly 8,000 miles away. Reflecting on the decision, Zhang explained, ‘I had to delve into my core motivations for building Airwallex. I was only three and a half years into the venture, which had grown exponentially in 2018. I had just begun to experience the thrill of entrepreneurship, which is what I had always dreamed of.’

Two of his co-founders opposed the acquisition, which influenced his choice. However, Zhang cited a clearer moment of clarity when he looked at the whiteboard in his office. The unfinished vision remained: to create financial infrastructure enabling businesses to operate globally as if they were local entities.

This decision appears increasingly justified. Airwallex now reports over $1.3 billion in annualized revenue, growing 85% annually, and processes nearly $300 billion in transaction volume. Zhang attributes this success to the deliberate challenges they faced.

Zhang’s journey began in Qingdao, China, and he moved to Melbourne at 15 with minimal English, living with a host family. After his family’s financial struggles, he worked multiple jobs to fund his computer science degree at the University of Melbourne, including bartending, dishwashing, gas station shifts, and farm work. He later worked in trading code development at an Australian investment bank, a role that paid well but lacked personal fulfillment.

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Before founding Airwallex, Zhang launched approximately 10 ventures, including a magazine at 14, a real estate development firm, import-export businesses dealing in wine and olive oil between Australia and Asia, textiles in the opposite direction, and a burger chain.

The concept for Airwallex emerged while Zhang ran a Melbourne coffee shop. When attempting to pay suppliers in Brazil, Indonesia, and Guatemala, co-founder Max Li observed payments vanishing into correspondent banking systems, often flagged or frozen by U.S. intermediary banks enforcing OFAC sanctions. ‘This prompted me to investigate correspondent banking and SWIFT systems to build our own global money movement network,’ Zhang noted.

That vision has scaled significantly. Airwallex now holds nearly 90 financial licenses across 50 markets, far exceeding Stripe’s estimated half. Acquiring these licenses required immense effort; in Japan, it took seven years. In some emerging markets, the company acquired shell companies with outdated licenses and rebuilt their technology from scratch.

‘You can’t just vibe-code an integration with Mexico’s central bank,’ Zhang remarked. ‘Access requires a secure room and biometric scans.’ These licenses are not merely regulatory formalities. In Japan, for example, Stripe and Square must transfer funds immediately to merchants’ bank accounts, whereas Airwallex, holding a fund transfer operator license, retains funds within its ecosystem. This allows customers to issue bank accounts, cards, and spend locally without funds leaving the platform.

The foreign exchange advantages are significant. A U.S. merchant settling transactions in Australian dollars avoids the 2% to 3% conversion fees typically charged by processors like Stripe to move funds back to U.S. dollars. Instead, they can use local balances to pay vendors, manage payroll, and cover digital marketing at interbank rates.

‘You no longer operate like a traditional U.S. company,’ Zhang explained. ‘You function as a global entity without the need to physically establish offices worldwide.’ This strategic approach, which Zhang calls the ‘path of maximum resistance,’ has created competitive barriers. ‘It took us six and a half years to reach $100 million in annual recurring revenue,’ Zhang stated. ‘But after that, it took just over three years to hit a billion.’ The competitive logic, in his telling, is clear.

Even after the Pentagon flagged the company as a supply-chain vulnerability last month, Anthropic continues to engage with top officials in the Trump administration.

Recent indications suggest a warming of relations, or at least that certain factions within the government are reluctant to isolate the AI firm. Reports indicate that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have been urging major bank executives to evaluate Anthropic’s latest Mythos model.