Biometrics get AI market lift amid acquisitions, national ID ambitions

Biometrics prospects and valuations are being buoyed by AI and economic conditions, contributing to an environment that could see more acquisitions. A couple of noteworthy examples were among the most-read articles of the week on Biometric Update. National digital ID projects could provide more lift for biometrics and digital ID technology providers in the long run, and ambitions from Malaysia to Ethiopia and India to Bhutan show some breadth in those opportunities.

The problem and the solution

World is pushing back on the Philippines’ data privacy authority’s order that Tools for Humanity cease and desist biometrics collection in the country, saying it represents a sudden change in interpreting the law after a full year of consultation. The company is appealing the order, saying it does not store, sell or purchase biometric data.

Meanwhile deepfakes and synthetic content from generative AI video app Sora, from World Co-founder Sam Altman’s better-known venture OpenAI, is flooding social media. World argues that 90 percent of online content will be made by AI a year from now, making the target market for its humanity verification technology very large.

National ID ambitions

Malaysia intends to reach 15 million users for its national digital ID by the end of this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced during a brief on the budget for 2026. The government is allocating millions of dollars to scale up both users and use cases for MyDigital ID, as well as a broader digital transformation.

Ethiopia is racing to issue its Fayda digital identity to 40 million more people by the end of the year with more registration centers and rural outreach beginning. The hope is to reach 63 million issued by the end of this year, on the way to its target of 90 million by 2027.

In the UK, debate has begun in Parliament over the proposed national digital ID mandatory for all working people. The news media drafted in representatives of the Tony Blair Institute, the Age Verification Providers Association, Luciditi, Orchestrating Identity, Select ID, CFIT and Yoti to make sense of the issue. Objections to the scheme and the information that could overcome some of them are clear now, if they weren’t before.

In India, which the Labour government has drawn inspiration from, the UIDAI is looking to stand up capabilities for deepfake and liveness detection and contactless fingerprint biometrics within domestic industry to protect its digital ID system from fraud. To that end it has launched a trio of challenges for startups, academics and established industry players.

On the other end of the centralization spectrum, Bhutan is migrating its digital ID to Ethereum to gain the resiliency that comes with its highly decentralized nature. Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin was on hand for the start of the SSI system’s switchover.

Expansions for testing and passwordless authentication

BixeLab showed off its new, larger lab facility with robotic testing capabilities, dedicated areas for environmental control and tools to accurately replicate advanced deepfake and presentation attacks in a webinar. The internationally recognized biometrics testing lab also introduced its recently-appointed CTO and shared details on current and future initiatives and engagements. BixeLab’s accreditations also continue to expand, with Aware passings its first assessment for FIDO Face Verification Certification.

Visa is positioning its Payment Passkeys for growth in several regions. The company has signed its first deal with a payment service provider, who will bring them to ecommerce in the Middle East, the boost in security is expected to increase card payments in India, and APAC is already leading in cashless payments.

An environment for acquisitions

The investment market in biometrics and digital identity remains steady, overall, but conditions for acquisitions and stock launches have ripened, attendees of a recent webinar hosted by Liminal heard. A representative of Piper Sandler points to AI and lowering interest rates as M&A tailwinds, while Jeremy Grant of Venable noted that the U.S. government has signalled support for digital ID, if unevenly.

The timing of the point about acquisitions is well-timed, with Coppernic completing a deal for hardware provider Fovea France. Fovea gives Coppernic a network of law enforcement and security customers, and country distribution rights for Regula and VisionMetric gear.

HID is integrating IDmelon’s portfolio of passkey and FIDO authentication after reaching an agreement to acquire the Canadian logical access control provider. The move continues a shift towards FIDO for HID, and gives its customers an easy path to passwordless authentication with identifiers they already use.

And in a cautionary note, people with facial differences like Freeman-Sheldon syndrome are having photos rejected by software making automated image quality checks, Wired reports. With face biometrics used for a growing array of use cases, alternative methods of verification are a practical requirement if they are to avoid excluding these people.

Please tell us if you spot any videos, editorials or other content we should share with those in biometrics and the digital identity community in the comments below or through social media.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  week in review