Sam Altman founded eyeball-scanning startup – Tools for Humanity is cutting jobs, reports Business Insider. The publication claims to have seen an internal email that was sent to the startup employees on June 8 from the human resource team. “As we enter the next step of our company strategy and operating priorities, we have made the hard decision to make changes to some roles and teams across the company,” the email said, adding the details on its strategy and next steps in a town hall meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 9. Tools for Humanity, the company behind the “Orb” – a metal sphere that scans irises to verify human identity has more than 500 employees. However, it is unclear how many employees will be impacted as a result of the layoff.
Why Sam Altman’s startup is cutting jobs
Founded in 2019 by Alex Blania (CEO) and Sam Altman (Chairman), the startup is headquartered in San Francisco, United States and Munich, German. Tools for Humanity burst into public view in 2023 with chrome-plated Orbs that introduced the world to its proof-of-personhood hardware. In November last year, the startup raised $240 million with an estimated valuation of $2.5 billion. However, “despite a $2.5 billion valuation and millions of sign-ups,” the startup has struggled to show how its iris-scanning “Orb” can generate revenue and win over regulators, the BI report states.The report comes as Sam Altman-led AI company OpenAI filed its IPO. As per news agency Reuters, OpenAI has not disclosed the size or timing of the offering, but the company is reportedly targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion. The filing also follows a court victory that removed a major legal hurdle linked to a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk. As stated in the report, OpenAI confirmed that it recently filed confidentially for a US IPO but said a timeline for the listing has not yet been decided.