A16z-backed Story rebrands as The Data Foundation, targeting AI training data

Story, an IP-focused protocol developed by PIP Labs and backed by a16z Crypto and Polychain Capital, has rebranded as The DATA Foundation (DATA) as the company pivots toward AI training data infrastructure, according to a Thursday statement.

The team said Story’s existing $IP token will be converted into the new $DATA token at a one-to-one ratio without requiring action from holders.

Story also unveiled Trace, an onchain registry for data provenance and licensing, and a major partnership with Kled, whose marketplace for user-consented data has added 1.5 billion records to the network.

As part of the transition, Andrea Muttoni will serve as chief executive of DATA, while Kled founder Avi Patel joins the project as adviser and chief data officer.

“The challenge in AI has shifted from compute and architecture to sourcing and provenance. As the scrapable web fractures, the question for labs now is who is keeping the receipts,” Muttoni commented. “With Kled, we combine full data transparency and auditability with the largest pool of AI training data on the planet.”

The transition comes as AI developers confront mounting challenges in sourcing high-quality training data. Industry participants increasingly face legal and operational risks associated with web-scraped content, creating a demand for datasets that include clear records of consent, ownership and jurisdiction.

DATA wants to create infrastructure for a more transparent AI economy, where data provenance can be verified and contributors can be compensated.

“The most important IP of this era is the data you can’t scrape: how a surgeon’s hands move, how a robot grips, how people speak, drive, and work in the real world,” said SY Lee, CEO of PIP Labs and strategic adviser to The DATA Foundation. “DATA is where that conviction goes next: an end-to-end network that proves real-world data’s origin, licenses it, and pays the people who made it.”

Trace functions as a public audit system that generates immutable records for every contribution uploaded to the network, according to the team.

They added that the platform enables AI companies to verify the provenance of datasets and establish a documented chain of custody, while contributors receive records that support compensation and intellectual-property claims.

Through Kled, licensing agreements and stablecoin-based payouts will also be processed on the network.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.