Palo Alto — PIP Labs, the core contributor to Story, the world’s first IP blockchain, has raised $80 million in Series B funding. Led by a16z crypto and supported by investors like Polychain, the round brings PIP Labs’ total funding to $140 million. Other key investors include Stability AI’s VP Scott Trowbridge, K11 Founder Adrian Cheng, and digital art collector Cozomo de’ Medici. (Cover photo: S.Y Lee, Co-founder & CEO of PIP Labs)
—
A New Era for Intellectual Property (IP)
Intellectual property is one of the largest asset classes globally, encompassing more than just movies and music. It includes training data, AI models, memes, user-generated content, game assets, and more. As AI continues to evolve, IP is becoming even more valuable, serving as the foundational input for large-scale AI models. However, this transformation also presents challenges, as AI can lead to IP theft and exploitation by big tech companies, leaving creators without compensation.
“Big tech is stealing IP without consent and capturing all the profit.”
S.Y Lee, Co-founder & CEO of PIP Labs
“They’re using your IP for their AI models without giving anything back and then hijacking future profits by controlling all your traffic. This destroys the incentive to create original content, which will eventually harm AI itself. Story is here to change that, ensuring a sustainable and flourishing path for creativity that benefits both creators and AI,” said S.Y Lee, co-founder and CEO of PIP Labs.
The Story Blockchain: Empowering Creators
Story is a Layer 1 blockchain designed to tokenize and protect IP, making it programmable in the AI era. Creators can use Story to declare ownership of their IP, set usage parameters, and create a global network that empowers fans to remix, sell, and distribute their content.
“Story will ensure a sustainable and flourishing path for the internet’s creativity that benefits both creators and AI, without any intermediaries,” Lee added.
“Creators can programmatically declare their sovereign rights and licenses on their IP in computationally readable and writable metadata on a credibly neutral blockchain. AI models can now license the creators’ data and compensate them easily without lawyers and legal documents, making Story a win-win for both IP and AI.”
S.Y Lee, Co-founder & CEO of PIP Labs
Building the Future of IP
The project has garnered significant attention from industry leaders. Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner at a16z crypto, stated, “The economic covenant underlying the internet — content creators providing supply and content distributors providing demand — is being upended by the proliferation of AI.
PIP Labs is building the necessary infrastructure for a new covenant in the AI age. Blockchains are perfectly suited for large-scale economic coordination, and Story’s platform ensures creators are compensated for their IP feeding the AI systems. S.Y. is a proven innovator, and we’re excited to support his ambitious vision by leading our third round in the company.”
Olaf Carlson-Wee, founder and CEO of Polychain Capital, echoed these sentiments:
“What Bitcoin did for money and finance, Story is doing for content and IP. Advancements in AI are triggering a second phase in Web3, which will revolutionize IP.”
Olaf Carlson-Wee, Founder & CEO of Polychain Capital
“Artists’ work and everyone’s data are being used without their consent to train massive, centralized models. Big tech is geometrically increasing their monopoly power, and the world needs a decentralized intellectual property system that brings the ownership of data and IP back to the people in the same way Bitcoin brought sovereignty to money and finance after the global financial crisis,” said Olaf.
IP Legos: The Building Blocks of Creativity
Story’s blockchain transforms IP into “IP Legos,” programmable assets that can be remixed and composed across various applications. “Think of Story as an IP Legoland,” said Jason Zhao, co-founder and CPO at PIP Labs. “On Story’s blockchain, IP turns into IP Legos—programmable, on-chain assets, ready for remixing and composing across thousands of applications. IP Legos and generative AI are yin and yang.
Together, they unlock new revenue streams for creators. Give fans exciting IP Legos to play around with and the magic wand of generative AI, they can create the next exciting spinoff space opera films, sequel hardcore games, remixed house music, and trendy fashion design.”
Growing Ecosystem and Future Plans
Over 200 teams, representing more than 20 million IPs, are already building on Story across various sectors, including IPFi, AI, and consumer markets. Notable projects include Space Runners’ Ablo, an AI fashion design tool, and Sekai, an AI storytelling platform. These projects are leveraging Story to enhance creativity, engagement, and revenue for creators.
In July 2024, Story Academy was launched to support builders in creating programmable IP, offering grants, education, and community resources. The program has already attracted over 100 applications from top teams worldwide. Looking ahead, Story will host “Programmable IP Seoul” on September 2nd during Frieze Seoul and Korea Blockchain Week, featuring prominent figures like generative AI artist Refik Anadol and Supertone’s CEO Kyogu Lee.
—
About Story
Story is the world’s IP blockchain, transforming IPs into networks that transcend mediums and platforms, unleashing global creativity and liquidity. Visit storyprotocol.xyz to learn more.
About PIP (Programmable IP) Labs
PIP Labs, the initial core contributor to the Story Network, is backed by investors including a16z crypto, Endeavor, and Polychain. The team is composed of industry veterans with backgrounds in consumer tech, generative AI, and Web3 infrastructure.