World, Sam Altman’s cryptocurrency and “human verification” startup known for its biometric data-collecting Orbs at places like the Marina Gap store, has revamped its previously austere Union Square storefront as part of a collab with San Francisco-based streetwear and sneaker brand Future Basics.
The first offering of this marriage of tech hype and hypebeast is a limited-edition white-and-grey sneaker, only available to customers who step up to an Orb and scan their eyes.
Oh, and then pay $160 plus tax.
World is the latest Silicon Valley surveillance tech firm trying to aestheticize its controversial products by launching streetwear. But unlike Palantir, which launched a line of branded merch in September, World’s launch comes with the added caveat that you have to give away your biometric data to get in on the drop.
This is just the latest in a series of announced partnerships by World to integrate its “proof of human” feature, World ID, into services like Tinder, Zoom, Coinbase, and Docusign. The company’s messaging suggests that humans will need a way to verify themselves as bots and deepfakes continue to flood the internet.
But World’s secretive partnership strategy extends beyond the tech industry: In just a few months, Orbs have been installed in at least 13 locations around the Bay Area, including the Marina Gap and several Plentea boba shops in San Francisco and Berkeley.
Last week, World even sponsored a “humans-only concert” exclusive to World ID holders at the Midway, as part of a launch event the company called Lift Off. At the event, the company appeared to announce a partnership with Live Nation and Bruno Mars. However, a spokesperson from Live Nation told Wired that such a partnership never existed.
The Future Basics collaboration — which does indeed exist — was also announced at Lift Off, where attendees were told they had exclusive access to the sneakers, called Cyto XLiftoffs.
Little is known about Future Basics, which is described as an “SF-based commerce project” on displays around the World store. It was founded by Kyle Riggle, a vice president of product strategy and innovation at Universal Music Group with priors at Yeezy, Kanye West’s fashion line. Neither World nor Riggle immediately responded to a request for comment from Gazetteer SF.
Why it was chosen to partner with World is also not clear. A post on Future Basics’ Instagram says that the collaboration was “built on a simple idea: being human isn’t a bug to optimize away. It’s the whole point.”
To kick off this literally eye-catching scheme, the World store held an influencer event last Thursday, complete with a DJ, hors d’oeuvres, champagne, and of course, the exclusive sneakers. The store reopened to the public on Friday.
If you weren’t at the Lift Off event or the influencer bash, you can get your own Air Altmans if you scan your eyeballs at an Orb. But you might have to wait: A worker told Gazetteer that, since the influencer event, many sizes are on backorder.
