Tech Billionaires’ Craziest Inventions—And Which Ones Might Actually Save the World (3 of 6)

Larry Page’s secretive “flying car” startup

Google co-founder Larry Page quietly bankrolled several electric “flying car” projects, starting with Zee Aero in 2010, later rebranded as Kitty Hawk. The company experimented with ultralight personal air vehicles and the Cora aircraft, an autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) design. Cora was eventually spun out into Wisk Aero, a joint venture with Boeing now focused on self-flying, zero-emissions eVTOL air taxis.

Kitty Hawk itself shut down in 2022, but Wisk continues development and aims to bring an autonomous passenger aircraft to market as part of the wider “advanced air mobility” sector.

Sam Altman’s crypto-powered “Worldcoin” ID project

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, co-founded Worldcoin with the goal of establishing a global “proof of personhood” system. This system involves individuals staring into a metal device known as the Orb, which scans their iris and generates a unique digital ID. Subsequently, they may receive crypto tokens linked to this identity, a concept that blurs the boundary between utopia and dystopia.

The project has run into serious regulatory trouble. Spain’s data protection authority ordered Worldcoin to delete all iris-scan data collected in the EU, citing violations of GDPR, and a Spanish court upheld a temporary ban on the project. Other regulators, including those in Brazil and Kenya, have also suspended or closely scrutinized operations due to privacy and consent concerns.