a16z Crypto Leads $15M Investment in Poseidon to Break AI Data Bottlenecks

Poseidon, a decentralized AI data infrastructure project incubated by the on-chain IP protocol Story, has announced the completion of a $15 million seed funding round led by a16z crypto. The funds will accelerate the development of a comprehensive data infrastructure layer for robotics, multimodal models, and next-generation physical AI, aiming to solve one of the most critical and overlooked challenges in AI: acquiring high-quality, IP-secure, and fully traceable data.

“As model architectures and compute become increasingly commoditized, the true competitive advantage is in the data.”

—Sandeep Chinchali, Chief AI Officer at Story and Chief Scientist at Poseidon

Pioseidon’s mission is to extend Story’s programmable IP layer to real-world data and AI training, enabling programmable ownership, licensing, and attribution for creative and AI assets. While Story focuses on foundational protocols for programmable control of asset rights, Poseidon applies these capabilities to power compliant and efficient AI data flows.

AI Moves from Digital to Physical, and the Data Bottleneck Intensifies

Over the past two years, AI has made significant breakthroughs in text and image understanding. As AI expands into real-world applications—like robotics, autonomous driving, and smart devices—the demand for authentic, real-world data has surged.

But current methods of data collection face three fundamental challenges:

• Long-tail data scarcity: High-value data types—such as POV video, 3D simulations, and edge sensor feeds—are expensive to obtain and fragmented across sources.
• Licensing and compliance risks: Traditional data supply chains are convoluted and copyright status is often unclear, making safe enterprise use difficult.
• Lack of incentives: Data contributors lack adequate attribution protection and revenue-sharing mechanisms, reducing their willingness to participate.

As Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth noted, “No amount of content on the internet can simulate the intuition people show when picking up a coffee cup.” The next generation of AI models must do more than just “see”—they must also “understand and act” in the world.

Poseidon: The Data Operating System Built for AI

To solve these issues, Poseidon offers a full-lifecycle data operating system covering collection, annotation, licensing, distribution, traceability, and incentives. This system transforms data from a basic “resource” into a legal and economic “asset.”

S.Y. Lee, CEO and co-founder of Story and President of Poseidon, said, “With Story’s programmable IP layer and immutable IP registration system, we ensure every dataset is licensed, traceable, and enforceable. Our integrated licensing module lets teams authorize, monetize, and use data seamlessly—eliminating legal risk. This is more than infrastructure; it’s about empowering AI systems that can be deployed in the real world.”

Poseidon is purpose-built as a data operating system for AI workflows, supporting native IP tracking and programmable incentives across every stage—from collection to annotation, licensing to distribution. Its core features include:

• Full-stack data pipeline: Standardizes collection and cleaning of diverse data types (POV video, sensor inputs, audio, synthetic simulations).
• On-chain IP registration and traceability: All data is registered as IP on Story Protocol, ensuring clear provenance and legal authorization.
• Incentive and licensing modules: Contributors, annotators, and synthetic model creators earn revenue shares via smart contracts, supporting sustainable data network growth.
• Composable data marketplace: Developers can filter, access, and integrate data by license, with automatic permissioning and revenue sharing to mitigate copyright risks.

Poseidon delivers a truly compliant, composable, and sustainable data network for AI model training, establishing vital infrastructure as AI becomes increasingly data-driven.

Laying the Economic Foundation for the AI Data Era

“AI foundation models have exhausted the most accessible training data. Poseidon’s decentralized data layer is working to build a new economic foundation for the internet, rewarding creators and data providers who deliver diverse inputs to power the next wave of intelligent systems. We’re thrilled to support Poseidon in tackling one of AI’s core bottlenecks.”

—Chris Dixon, Founder and Managing Partner, a16z crypto

Poseidon already partners with leading AI companies and will use this funding round to expand its technology stack—including SDK toolkits, contributor workbenches, and licensing and revenue modules. Early access registration for AI developers and data contributors is set to launch this summer.

About Poseidon

Poseidon is a decentralized, purpose-built, full-stack data layer for AI training workflows. Incubated by the Story Protocol team, it bridges high-quality data supply with AI model demand. The platform supports end-to-end processes—from data contribution, licensing, and authorization to validation and integration—ensuring security, compliance, and meaningful economic incentives for contributors.

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