How a16z-backed DATA is rethinking its blockchain strategy after $30 million Sui deal

Muttoni did not disclose how much of Story's original $140 million in funding remains, but said its existing investors, including a16z crypto, are still involved.

Now, Muttoni is positioning the new focus as a continuation of the first rebrand rather than another change in direction.

Finding a market in AI data

The company's new strategy grew partly out of its experience with Poseidon, an AI data company incubated by the Story team that collects and processes data for training AI models.

Muttoni said the team found a market where buyers often had little way to check whether the datasets they were purchasing were original, properly licensed or even exclusive. In one case, vendors offered Poseidon supposedly exclusive datasets that were already available from other sellers.

"We were at one point given our own data set back to us," he said.

DATA is trying to address that problem through its product, Trace.

For example, when someone uploads a video or voice recording via a participating data marketplace, Trace creates a receipt for that file. The record includes details such as when it was submitted, the terms the contributor agreed to and any later licensing or payment events.

Kled, a marketplace that pays people to contribute data, accounts for much of the activity. Muttoni said the platform is adding between 3 million and 4 million contributions a day, including older records being brought onto Trace.