Story: The only Layer 1 blockchain to secure lead investment from a16z for three consecutive rounds is breaking through AI's biggest bottleneck
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Story: The only Layer 1 blockchain to secure lead investment from a16z for three consecutive rounds is breaking through AI's biggest bottleneck
As intellectual property gradually becomes the core "currency" of the AI economy, Story aims to make its assetization infrastructure the industry standard.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAs generative AI reshapes industries across the board, intellectual property (IP) protection in the AI era has become increasingly prominent. Today’s AI models rely on massive datasets—such as text, images, and videos—for training, much of which constitutes protected intellectual property. However, most IP holders see neither fair compensation nor retained control when their works are used. The recent lawsuit filed by The New York Times against OpenAI highlights this tension: well-known IP owners are beginning to push back against unauthorized use in AI training. This underscores how legal and ethical issues surrounding IP in AI development have grown particularly urgent.
Story, a startup located near Stanford University in Silicon Valley—the heart of the world's innovation hub—is aiming to solve this challenge. The region is home to leading AI companies and major Layer 1 blockchain projects such as Aptos and Sui. Story is an IP-focused Layer 1 blockchain that transforms intellectual property into programmable digital assets, offering a new framework for protecting, sharing, and monetizing IP. With this technology, IP holders can securely participate in AI-driven innovation and decentralized collaboration. Recently, Story partnered with renowned AI company Stability AI, becoming the first blockchain integrated with a mainstream large language model (LLM). The company has also performed strongly in capital markets, raising $140 million to date—all three funding rounds led by top-tier venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a first in the blockchain industry. Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z’s crypto fund, recently detailed in an interview on EO, a prominent tech YouTube channel (interview), why a16z has backed Story three times. He stated bluntly that without blockchain solutions like Story to fairly compensate creators and data owners, AI will deal a devastating blow to the internet’s creative economy. “When people can just use Midjourney to generate illustrations,” he said, “who will pay illustrators? Many creators will lose their economic livelihood.”
Positioned at the intersection of AI and blockchain technology, Story’s significance extends far beyond its technical foundation. Intellectual property is considered one of the most valuable asset classes globally, spanning media, technology, pharmaceuticals, and more, with a total value exceeding $61.9 trillion (source: Brand Finance Global Intangible Finance Tracker 2023). From brand identities and software code to virtual characters and patented research, all are forms of IP. Yet, despite its immense scale, this asset class still lacks effective monetization channels, leaving IP holders, enterprises, and investors unable to fully benefit or protect their creations in the fast-moving AI era. Story offers a viable path forward.
AI Depends on Data—but Sparks IP Challenges
From Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion to OpenAI’s GPT, AI models require vast amounts of training data. Much of this data comes from copyrighted works, often collected and used without authorization or payment. The recent lawsuit by The New York Times against OpenAI is not just a routine legal dispute—it marks a watershed moment for IP protection in the age of AI. The newspaper accuses OpenAI of using its articles as training data without permission, a case that could set a precedent for future IP regulations.
This clash between “traditional media” and “AI newcomers” reveals the limitations of the current IP system. The New York Times’ accusation against OpenAI is more than a legal battle; it represents a fundamental challenge to existing IP frameworks. In today’s rapidly advancing AI landscape, legacy systems reliant on manual contracts and centralized management prove inefficient and ill-equipped. As IP protection turns into an “all-hands-on-deck war,” society urgently needs more effective solutions.
Despite a global valuation of $61.9 trillion, technologies for monetizing, scaling, and digitizing these assets remain underdeveloped. Traditional licensing processes are slow and complex, struggling to keep pace with AI’s insatiable demand for data. As AI continues to evolve, a robust IP framework that both protects rights holders and fosters innovation has become imperative.
Story: A Pioneer in Global IP Blockchain Infrastructure
Story is building the foundational infrastructure to overcome bottlenecks in the IP space. Through its protocol, IP holders, businesses, and investors can transform intellectual property into digital assets, enabling more efficient tracking, trading, and monetization. By combining blockchain technology with a dedicated legal framework, Story empowers IP owners to maintain control over their work while unlocking new revenue streams.
Story’s programmable IP assets allow rights holders to define flexible usage rules—such as whether content can be used for AI training, commercial purposes, or must be restricted entirely. This ensures that data used in AI models complies with legal standards while fairly compensating original creators. Compared to traditional IP systems, Story’s blockchain enables real-time enforcement of rights, overcoming inefficiencies and offering a better solution for AI’s massive data demands.
The partnership between Story and Stability AI demonstrates its potential. Known for its open-source model Stable Diffusion, Stability AI now accesses legally licensed datasets through Story’s infrastructure. By tokenizing IP and recording it on-chain, Story creates a high-quality, protected data pool that supports AI training while providing transparent income for IP holders. This collaboration resolves tensions between developers and rights holders, transforming tokenized IP into a sustainable market that protects creators and drives innovation. As IP becomes a core asset in the AI economy, Story offers a revolutionary solution powered by blockchain transparency and a strong legal foundation.
The New York Times vs. OpenAI lawsuit underscores the importance of Story’s infrastructure. While traditionally viewed as a legal conflict, the case reflects a deeper struggle: in the digital age, who controls and benefits from human knowledge?
Story inscribed the opening statement of this lawsuit into its genesis block—not to take sides, but to mark this pivotal moment. The case exposes the shortcomings of the current system: traditional IP holders struggle to keep up with AI’s rapid advancement, while AI companies extract value from unlicensed data. The standoff between The New York Times and OpenAI reveals that centralized management models are no longer sufficient. A new path is needed.
Today, AI companies’ reliance on unauthorized data poses legal risks for developers and threatens the interests of IP holders. Without clear authorization and compensation mechanisms, the AI industry faces endless litigation, ultimately stifling innovation.
By putting IP on-chain, Story offers a proactive solution. It ensures rightful compensation for IP holders while giving AI developers legal access to data—preventing disputes before they arise.
It is precisely Story’s ability to address these challenges that has attracted support from major players in tech and finance. Since its founding, the company has raised over $140 million across multiple funding rounds, reaching a valuation of $2.25 billion. Notably, a16z has led all three investment rounds—a rare vote of confidence that further validates Story’s potential.
This backing signals that Story’s IP solution is not just theoretical, but a pressing necessity. As intellectual property becomes the core "currency" of the AI economy, Story aims to make its assetization infrastructure the industry standard.
With global IP valued at $61.9 trillion, these creative assets represent not only financial worth but also the engine driving the global intelligent economy. Yet, without modern infrastructure, this vast asset class remains underutilized—and even at risk.
The future of IP will not be decided by lawsuits, but redefined by technologies that turn creativity into programmable assets.
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