The ambitions of startup Worldcoin, co-founded by Sam Altman, have stalled in a number of countries just six months after an expanded international launch.
Citizens of France, India and Brazil will no longer be able to use the company’s iconic spherical eye scanner after the startup withdrew from those markets, TechCrunch reports. In a statement emailed to PropertyThe Worldcoin Foundation said its activities in France and Brazil were a limited-time preview, not a long-term rollout, and in India, “The World App continues to be widely adopted” and that “ball-verified proof of personality services have been temporarily suspended.” to develop and implement custom-made, safe and orderly processes that adequately meet demand.
In July, Tools for Humanity, the organization behind Worldcoin, expanded World ID, its digital identity program linked to a person’s iris scan. In its announcement that month, the startup said that 1,500 balls would soon be available in 35 cities around the world. Last week, the company also announced a program that will provide $5 million in grants to developers building with eye-scanning technology.
Cryptocurrency Worldcoin fell just under 1% and was trading at $3.64 Thursday morning after the news, according to CoinGecko.
OpenAI CEO Altman and its founders created Worldcoin in 2020 as a way to help people prove their digital identity as AI becomes more widespread. In just a few years, Worldcoin has raised $250 million from well-known venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz.
The startup has recently faced several regulatory issues, including investigations from French and German regulators as well as Argentinian government agencies.
Altman has also faced his own problems of late. In November, OpenAI’s board fired him as CEO before reappointing him just two weeks later. And this week, Altman was criticized afterward Property reported that it quietly received $75 million from the University of Michigan for a new venture capital fund months after the launch of OpenAI’s flagship product, ChatGPT.
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com
