Palo Alto-based startup PIP Labs announced an $80 million funding round for Story Protocol, a blockchain platform to track intellectual property rights in the era of artificial intelligence and the data scraping that enables model training. CEO and co-founder Seung Yoon “SY” Lee says the company aims to create a more sustainable IP environment for digital consumers and builders. The raise, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Polychain Capital, values the startup at $2.25 billion. The move comes after Sahara AI announced it raised $43 million this month to fund a blockchain-based IP tracking system. Read more

Google has reached a deal with California to contribute to a $250 million fund supporting California journalism over five years in exchange for legislators abandoning a bill requiring the tech giant to pay to use news content in Google Search. The proposed compromise, which has already generated controversy, allocates roughly $70 million from the state budget with the rest primarily from Google. In addition to financially supporting newsrooms, the fund will create a National AI Innovation Accelerator to provide access to new tools. Both initiatives are expected to go live in 2025, pending legislative approval. Read more

Google DeepMind has made its latest AI image generator, Imagen 3, free for use in the U.S. via the company’s ImageFX platform. Imagen 3 will be available in multiple versions, “each optimized for different types of tasks, from generating quick sketches to high-resolution images.” Google announced Imagen 3 at Google I/O in March, and in June made it available to enterprise users through Vertex. Using simplified natural language text input rather than “complex prompt engineering,” Google says Imagen 3 generates high-quality images in a range styles, from photorealistic, painterly and textured to whimsically cartoony. Read more

Sony Electronics is releasing two new 4K handheld camcorders. The NXCAM HXR-NX800 is aimed at consumer workflows, while the XDCAM PXW-Z200 is built for professional applications. Both models utilize artificial intelligence recognition capabilities, high-precision autofocus, 20x optical zoom, a variable neutral-density filter and assignable lens ring. The camcorders also feature Sony’s newest BIONZ XR image processors. “The cameras are suited to individuals and small teams” in the informational broadcast and educational fields, with a market debut planned for September. The HXR-NX800 will retail for $3,300 and the PXW-Z200 for $4,000. Read more

YouTube has expanded its relationship with Shopify, allowing more merchants to make their products available for creators to tag in their shopping content. All eligible Shopify Plus and Advanced merchants in the U.S. are now able to sign up for YouTube Shopping’s affiliate program through the Google & YouTube app on Shopify, which is expected to significantly increase the number of participating brands and products. According to YouTube, viewers watched over 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos in 2023. Broadening the scope of its Shopify deal is expected to make YouTube more competitive with TikTok Shop. Read more