Today we’re announcing that @a16zcrypto is leading an $80M Series B financing of PIP Labs, developer of @storyprotocol.

Story is a blockchain protocol that allows creators to register their IP so they can track and monitor use, protecting their legal and economic rights. The goal is to create foundational infra that can underpin a new economic covenant between creators and platforms.

The team behind Story has deep tech and creative expertise. CEO/cofounder @s-y-lee has impressed us with big-picture vision and world-class tactical execution. Cofounder @jasonzhao  studied CS at Stanford, dove deeper into AI at DeepMind, and now leads technical development on Story.

For AI systems and creative people to happily co-exist, creators need a modern way to ensure they get compensated for their work. Story takes a proven approach — IP law — and updates it for the age of AI.

We are excited to support the Story team on this important mission.

https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/investing-in-story

This is the most ludicrous raise I've seen since the dotcom bubble

IP law is highly subjective and can never achieve objective strict global consensus - the *only* feature of blockchains

I've discussed this topic at length across multiple blog posts

You don’t need global objective consensus - you just need buy in from enough ip holders to make your protocol profitable until it becomes “the standard”. Having access to programmatic liquidity by being on a blockchain is a sufficiently good reason to use blockchain tech here.