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. Continue reading Story Raises $80M to Create Blockchain-Based IP Protection

Sahara AI, a company co-founded in 2023 by Sean Ren, an associate professor in computer science at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, has raised $43 million to pursue its goal of widely implementing a platform to ensure IP-owners are compensated in the age of generative AI. Ren, who launched the company with former Binance Labs Investment Director Tyler Zhou, says the funding will be used to expand its team and further develop a decentralized AI blockchain platform that recognizes and tracks copyrighted assets, ultimately establishing a system of credit and compensation for work that contributes to model training. Continue reading AI Startup Co-Founded by USC Professor Raises New Funding