OpenAI CEO's Identity Verification Company Announced Fake Bruno Mars Partnership

Source: Hacker News

Announcement and Correction

On April 17 2026, Sam Altman’s other AI company, Tools For Humanity, announced a partnership with Bruno Mars as he embarked on his Romantic Tour. The announcement coincided with the company’s Concert Kit tool, which allegedly allows “verified humans” to access VIP tickets and concert experiences.

“To be clear, we were never even approached by [Tools For Humanity], nor were we in any discussions regarding a partnership or tour access,” the joint statement from Bruno Mars’ management and Live Nation read. “We first learned that our tour was being used to promote their project after their keynote made those initial claims.”
— Wired, April 22 2026

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The initial post on Tools For Humanity’s website has since been edited to correct the false information. A spokesperson confirmed the company “does not have any agreement with Bruno Mars to test or feature Concert Kit” and that “there is no association or affiliation with the artist or his tour.”

Tools For Humanity is actually partnering with Thirty Seconds to Mars on their 2027 European tour. While TFH has not disclosed the reason for the erroneous Bruno Mars announcement, it appears to be a case of mistaken identity—ironic given the company’s focus on verifying human identities.

The company launched in 2019 as a platform to verify human identities online and combat fraud, targeting issues such as the live‑music monopoly of Live Nation‑Ticketmaster, which is often plagued by bots and scammers. In 2023, TFH introduced a physical identity‑verification device—a spherical orb that scans human irises. Unfortunately, the orb does not tell fortunes, a design limitation that might have prevented this Mars mix‑up.