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

a16z crypto, a well-known venture capital fund, has announced an $80 million Series B financing round for PIP Labs, the developer of Story Protocol, according to a16z crypto. Established in 2013, a16z crypto has been investing in various stages of crypto and web3 startups.

Breaking the Traditional Covenant

For decades, the internet has operated on an implicit economic covenant between creators and platforms: creators supply content, and platforms provide demand. This balance is being disrupted by advances in generative AI. AI-powered search engines now offer comprehensive answers directly, reducing traffic to original content websites. Additionally, social networks are increasingly populated with AI-generated images and videos, often trained on original human-created content without proper attribution or compensation.

Introducing Story Protocol

Story Protocol aims to address these issues by providing a blockchain-based solution where creators can register their intellectual property (IP). This enables creators to track and monitor the use of their content, ensuring their legal and economic rights are protected. By simplifying licensing and standardizing IP registration, Story Protocol encourages widespread sharing and collaboration.

Projects already building on Story Protocol include:

• Magma: A collaborative art platform that allows artists to register their IP and set rules for commercial use, remixing, and AI usage.
• Sekai: An AI storytelling platform that facilitates co-creation of immersive stories through simple prompts.
• Ablo: A platform enabling users to customize and remix fashion using generative AI, with Story Protocol handling IP registration and revenue sharing.

The Team Behind Story

Story Protocol is led by CEO and co-founder Seung Yoon Lee, who previously sold his company Radish Fiction to Kakao. His co-founder, Jason Zhao, studied computer science at Stanford and worked at DeepMind, bringing extensive technical expertise to the project.

The goal of Story Protocol is to establish a foundational infrastructure that underpins a new economic covenant between creators and platforms, ensuring creators are fairly compensated in an AI-driven world.

Future Prospects

a16z crypto's investment in Story Protocol reflects its belief in the need for modern solutions to protect creator rights. As AI continues to evolve, the importance of ensuring fair compensation for creators cannot be overstated. Story Protocol's approach updates traditional intellectual property law for the digital age, making it easier for creators to benefit from their work.

For more information, visit the a16z crypto website.