Startup Story raises $80 million to protect intellectual property from AI

Blockchain startup Story has raised $80 million in a Series B funding round.

The San Francisco-based company announced financing The company announced on Wednesday (August 21) on the social platform X that it would use the money to build a blockchain that would prevent artificial intelligence companies from improperly misusing their developers’ intellectual property (IP). Story described intellectual property as “one of the world’s largest asset classes.”

1/ Announced a total capital raise of $140 million to build Story, the world’s IP blockchain. pic.twitter.com/9M3tqqYcvO

— Story (꧁IP꧂) (@StoryProtocol) 21 August 2024

“Training data, AI models, memes, UGC videos, game assets, character traits, and more are all intellectual property,” the company explained in the post on X. “Everything is intellectual property.”

With the advent of artificial intelligence, the value of intellectual property has only increased, the company added, saying it serves as fundamental input for training large AI language models.

“Simply put, without intellectual property, AI is likely to reach its limits,” the post says. “Story creates a win-win future where developers can both protect and expand their intellectual property in the age of AI.”

The company said its technology gives creators control over their intellectual property and lets them set the economic terms under which AI can use their property. It can also protect intellectual property by setting associated terms in smart contractsThese are self-executing contracts written on blockchains designed for without external authorization or human intervention once the conditions are met.

The financing round brings Story’s Value to $2.25 billion, CNBC reported on Wednesday.

PYMNTS investigated whether AI-generated content would “hit a brick wall” of copyright Law last month in an interview with Christian MammenPartner and Chairman of Womble Bond DickinsonU.S. intellectual property litigation group.

“There are much Ways in which existing lessons can be applied to this new technology,” said Mammen.

The modern concept of intellectual property has been around for hundreds of years, although it only became part of most of the world’s legal systems in the late 20th century. As AI advances, concepts of intellectual property and copyright law such as fair use may also need to adapt. to effectively handle cases related to generative AI.

“I don’t know if we need a major overhaul of the laws just to account for this new technology,” Mammen said. “But there may be some places where it’s worth talking about, tinkering with the laws or changing them in some ways.”

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