Sam Altman’s ‘human verification’ company thinks its eye-scanning orbs could solve ticket scalping

Among them is a new tool called Concert Kit that could help bands and artists fight ticket scalping bots.

The new feature builds on the revamped World ID, the orb-based verification system that scans users’ eyeballs and faces to create a “proof of humanity” signature that sits on users’ mobile devices. “It’s basically like a little human passport to the internet that lets you prove on apps and websites that you’re a real, unique human being without revealing anything about yourself,” Tiago Sada, Tools for Humanity’s chief product officer, told Engadget.

Today, as more apps and services begin to support World ID, this “human passport” can unlock new capabilities. Coupled with Concert Kit, it allows artists to designate a specific pool of tickets reserved for “verified” humans. The concept is a bit similar to how pre-sales currently work, with artists (or their teams) reserving a specific number of tickets for people who have set up a World ID. These individuals can then use their Global ID to obtain ticket codes for Ticketmaster, Eventbrite, AXS, or other major ticketing platforms.

Because World ID is limited to real, “verified” humans, the system won’t be susceptible to the same tactics that allowed bots to ruin the ticket-buying process for so many people, Tools for Humanity says. Artists also control the level of verification they want to demand from their fans. (The new World ID app will also allow users to create an account with selfie verification if they don’t have access to an orb.)

It’s not yet clear how well Concert Kit will be able to deal with the massive scalping bot problem plaguing the concert industry. So far, Bruno Mars is expected to use the solution on his upcoming world tour – it’s unclear how many of his tickets will be reserved for World ID-verified humans, however – and Concert Kit is available for other artists starting today.

Concert Kit is one of several new World ID integrations and updates announced by Tools for Humanity at an event in San Francisco on Friday. Tinder, which earlier this year began testing World ID as an age verification solution in Japan, will roll out its support globally. In the United States, however, the Tinder integration will not be used for age verification. Instead, it will indicate whether there is a real “verified” human behind a given profile.

On the enterprise side, Zoom and DocuSign are also adding support for World ID to help businesses verify that there is a real person (and not a deepfake or bot) joining their video calls or signing important documents. Tools for Humanity is also introducing a standalone app for World ID that separates its identity verification tools from its existing crypto wallet app.

The updates are Tools for Humanity’s latest attempt to make their widely mocked orb-based verification system more mainstream and perhaps a little less dystopian. (Elsewhere, orbs have started appearing in new locations like San Francisco Gap.)

For its part, Tools for Humanity seems aware that many people aren’t willing to scan their faces in front of a group of Altman-controlled orbs just to “prove” they’re human. I asked Sada, Tools for Humanity’s chief product officer, what he would say to those who think the company is solving the wrong problem: that it should actually be up to ticketing platforms, dating apps, and other services to beef up their security and anti-bot tools, rather than relying on their users to “prove” their humanity.

He said it was a “completely understandable question” and compared it to some people’s initial discomfort with things like TouchID or Apple’s FaceID. “Not everyone has to do this right off the bat, and that’s important,” he said. “It’s optional. If you want to have a global ID, you have access to this enhanced experience.”