a16z Crypto Leads $80M Series B for Story Protocol to Protect Creator Rights

a16z crypto, a widely known enterprise capital fund, has introduced an $80 million Collection B financing spherical for PIP Labs, the developer of Story Protocol, in keeping with a16z crypto. Established in 2013, a16z crypto has been investing in numerous phases of crypto and web3 startups.

Breaking the Conventional Covenant

For many years, the web has operated on an implicit financial covenant between creators and platforms: creators provide content material, and platforms present demand. This steadiness is being disrupted by advances in generative AI. AI-powered serps now supply complete solutions straight, lowering visitors to authentic content material web sites. Moreover, social networks are more and more populated with AI-generated pictures and movies, typically educated on authentic human-created content material with out correct attribution or compensation.

Introducing Story Protocol

Story Protocol goals to handle these points by offering a blockchain-based resolution the place creators can register their mental property (IP). This permits creators to trace and monitor the usage of their content material, guaranteeing their authorized and financial rights are protected. By simplifying licensing and standardizing IP registration, Story Protocol encourages widespread sharing and collaboration.

Initiatives already constructing on Story Protocol embody:

Magma: A collaborative artwork platform that enables artists to register their IP and set guidelines for industrial use, remixing, and AI utilization.
Sekai: An AI storytelling platform that facilitates co-creation of immersive tales by way of easy prompts.
Ablo: A platform enabling customers to customise and remix trend utilizing generative AI, with Story Protocol dealing with IP registration and income sharing.

The Group Behind Story

Story Protocol is led by CEO and co-founder Seung Yoon Lee, who beforehand bought his firm Radish Fiction to Kakao. His co-founder, Jason Zhao, studied laptop science at Stanford and labored at DeepMind, bringing in depth technical experience to the venture.

The aim of Story Protocol is to determine a foundational infrastructure that underpins a brand new financial covenant between creators and platforms, guaranteeing creators are pretty compensated in an AI-driven world.

Future Prospects

a16z crypto’s funding in Story Protocol displays its perception within the want for contemporary options to guard creator rights. As AI continues to evolve, the significance of guaranteeing honest compensation for creators can’t be overstated. Story Protocol’s strategy updates conventional mental property legislation for the digital age, making it simpler for creators to learn from their work.

For extra info, go to the a16z crypto web site.

Picture supply: Shutterstock