Developers of AI platform Story complete $83 million fundraising

Story, a startup from PIP Labs, has raised $83 million in a Series B funding round, reaching a valuation of $2.25 billion. The developer company is building its own blockchain platform for protecting and managing intellectual property (IP) in the era of artificial intelligence.

Experts noted that at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) giants like OpenAI and Stability AI are under fire for using other people’s content without permission, Story offers a new approach to IP management. The platform allows creators to track and license the use of their personal materials and monetize them.

The latest round of funding was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz through its a16z crypto arm, with Polychain Capital and other influential investors also participating. The capital raised will be used to develop the platform, with a commercial launch planned for late 2024.

Story has already signed up over 200 teams who have registered over 20 million addressable IPs on the platform in closed beta. In the future, Story aims to be the primary tool for protecting the rights of content creators as AI grows and impacts the market.

The company’s co-founder and CEO, S.Y. Lee, emphasizes the importance of creating a sustainable IP ecosystem, comparing it to a LEGO set where anyone can freely use the IP with the potential to generate revenue, just like a brick-built toy. This vision is supported by investors who believe Story can do for the industry what Bitcoin did for the financial sector. For now, the model’s future depends on whether content creators embrace it, but the potential has already attracted the attention of major players and industry experts.