If you wandered through Union Square recently and noticed a suspiciously hip activation promising a "Humans Only" concert experience, congratulations — you stumbled onto one of the more brazen data-harvesting operations dressed up as a cultural event.

Here's the deal: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Worldcoin project (now rebranded as "World") has been merging with his broader AI empire, and the "Humans Only" events appear to be the lifestyle-branded offspring. The premise? Prove you're human — by scanning your retinas with Altman's infamous Orb device — and get access to a secret concert with an undisclosed lineup at an undisclosed venue. Very underground. Very cool. Very "please give a billionaire your biometric data forever."

As one SF resident put it: "Altman's shitty crypto coin merged with Altman's creepy eye scanning Orb and this is the ugly baby they made. 'Verified humans' presumably means you have to do the Orb eye scan and have your retinas forever in Altman's database to attend. Hardest of hard passes."

The whole operation borrows the aesthetic of warehouse parties and underground raves — no address, secret lineup, texts the day-of — except instead of some scrappy local promoter throwing a party for the love of music, it's a $150 billion AI company building a global biometric identity database. Slight difference.

Another local joked about the event name: "This is how the AIs start taking over. Lure the foolish humans in somewhere and then eat them."

Look, we're not anti-fun. San Francisco has an incredible underground music scene, and people are out there throwing genuinely great, independent shows every weekend with no corporate strings attached. But let's call this what it is: a marketing funnel with a DJ. The "secret lineup" isn't the point. Your iris scan is the point. The concert is the loss leader; your biometric identity is the product.

In a city that prides itself on personal freedom and skepticism of unchecked corporate power, it's a little alarming how easily a free concert and some mystery can get people to hand over data they can never take back. Your retinas aren't a password — you can't change them when there's a breach.

Free advice: if a tech billionaire wants your eyeball scan, the price of admission is too high, no matter who's on the lineup.