Zoom can now tell you for sure that the person you're speaking to isn't a deepfake — Sam Altman’s World debuts ID verification for AI Agents

Zoom is now offering a way to definitively confirm that the individual you are conversing with is not an AI-generated deepfake, thanks to a new verification system called World ID. This solution is brought to you by Sam Altman's biometric identity verification company, World. To establish one's authenticity, participants must undergo a physical iris scan at one of World's Orb devices, followed by a verification selfie taken through a mobile app.

Once verified, users receive a Human Badge displayed alongside their video feed during Zoom calls, alerting others that they are indeed speaking with a real person. This initiative comes at a time when deepfakes are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with 36% of senior cybersecurity leaders reporting at least one deepfake incident during video calls over the past year, according to Gartner research.

While Microsoft has also been addressing similar concerns by integrating third-party deepfake detection into its Teams platform, World's approach focuses on verifying human authenticity rather than merely detecting deepfakes. The process, while requiring an initial investment in Orb devices for onsite installations, aims to streamline human verification and mitigate the growing threat of AI-generated impersonation in video and audio content.