Fueling a new controversy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s co-founded startup has called upon its employeesto put in extra effort and work on weekends. Tools for Humanity, the ambitious crypto startup co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is drawing scrutiny over its fiercely demanding work culture after its CEO, Alex Blania, issued a new directive to employees to prioritise the company’s mission above all else.
Details emerging from an internal staff meeting in January reveal that CEO Alex Blania laid out a blunt expectation for employees of the company, which is behind the eye-scanning ‘Orb’ and the Worldcoin digital identity project.
‘Nothing else should matter,’ says Altman’s new startup’s CEO
According to the report from Business Insider, Blania conveyed a clear ultimatum, instructing staff to work on the weekends and focus solely on achieving the company’s mission.
“We will neither fail, nor will we be an average outcome, and that’s what we want, and that’s all I care about every day and all you should care about every day, and nothing else should matter,” Blania said in a recording. He followed it up with a message for everyone who disagreed with the hyper-focused mandate, stating, “If you should care about something else… you should just not be here. It’s as simple as that.”
The culture highlights an explicit rejection of non-work-related concerns. Blania stated the company does not care about “politics, we don’t care about DEI,” focusing instead on “merit, performance, and excellence.” Internal company values displayed at their office further reinforced the intense environment, stating that employees are “always on call” and have “no time for slowness and comfort.”
Mission to defy AI threats, states the company
The company justifies its extreme expectations by framing its work as critical to the future of humanity. Tools for Humanity’s central project is building a global digital identity system, or proof of personhood, via its metallic Orb that scans users’ irises to verify they are human, an effort designed to counter the widespread threat of AI-generated deepfakes.
Despite the intense scrutiny, the company has defended its approach. A Tools for Humanity spokesperson confirmed that the organisation is transparent about its values and principles, noting that this clarity is necessary to build a team dedicated and focused on the “increasingly urgent mission of ensuring every human benefits from the age of AI.”
