As AI creates new problems regarding intellectual property theft, San Francisco-based startup Story Protocol has raised an $80 million Series B round to try to solve the growing problem.
The new funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Polychain and others. Founded in 2022, Story has raised $140 million to date, according to the company. The new round would value the company at $2.25 billion.
Intellectual property theft is nothing new, but the rise of AI has raised the stakes, as generative AI models ingest copyrighted material – without permission – to train and learn.
Story’s blockchain network allows IP owners to store their IP on the platform, embedding terms of use (such as licensing fees) into smart contracts. Essentially, blockchain aims to ensure that owners are compensated when their IP is used.
“Tech giants are stealing IP without consent and taking all the profits,” said SY Lee, co-founder of Story. “First, they will gobble up your IP for their AI models without any compensation. … The current state of AI completely destroys the incentive to create original IP for all of us.”
Intellectual Property Battle
The funding announcement comes just a day after OpenAI announced a partnership deal with Condé Nast to display content from the various publications it owns, as AI companies face resistance from many of the media companies whose content they ingest.
Last year, OpenAI and its main backer, Microsoft, were sued by the New York Times over copyright issues related to their use of the newspaper’s intellectual property.
Other startups and media companies have also struck partnership deals to allow AI models to use their content to learn as content producers seek to project their intellectual property.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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