The firm within the abet of Fable, a Layer 1 platform that tokenizes intellectual property, launched Wednesday that it had raised $80 million in a Sequence B funding spherical led by a16z, with further participation from crypto VC agency Polychain. The fundraising represents the predominant time that a16z has led three rounds of fundraising in a crypto agency because it invested in centralized substitute Coinbase.

PIP Labs, the initial core contributor to Fable that formally raised the funds, previously raised $29 million in its seed spherical and $25 million in its Sequence A. Along side so a lot of angel investments, PIP Labs has now raised $140 million. The firm did no longer repeat PIP Labs’ valuation as of doubtlessly the newest spherical of funding.

Fable estimates that intellectual property represents a $2 trillion asset class. And the upward push of man made intelligence has made keeping creators’ IP a lot more crucial currently, since this verbalize material serves because the premise for the coaching of tremendous AI items.

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“Gargantuan tech is stealing IP with out consent and capturing the complete revenue,” mentioned S.Y Lee, co-founder and CEO of PIP Labs, in an announcement. “The fresh shriek of AI completely destroys the motivation to construct licensed IP for all of us. This in actual fact will be damaging for AI if nobody has incentive to construct something licensed for AI to coach upon.”

Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner at a16z crypto, echoed Lee’s comments within the press release. “The financial covenant underlying the files superhighway — verbalize material creators offering provide and verbalize material distributors offering place a question to — is being upended by the proliferation of AI,” Dixon mentioned. “Blockchains are ideal to tremendous-scale financial coordination, and Fable’s platform ensures creators are compensated for his or her IP feeding the AI systems.”

Fable’s resolution is to operate the infrastructure to place the sovereignty of creators’ IP and clarify usage parameters around their verbalize material with out any intermediaries.

“Creators can programmatically narrate their sovereign rights and licenses on their IP in computationally readable and writable metadata on a credibly neutral blockchain,” mentioned Lee. “AI items can now license the creators’ files and compensate them with out complications with out attorneys and moral paperwork, making Fable a acquire-acquire for every and every IP and AI.”

Over 200 corporations representing better than 20 million IPs are currently constructing on Fable all one of the best probably plot thru sectors including IPFi, AI, and user markets, per the firm.

Diversified famous investors in PIP’s newest spherical include Steadiness AI’s SVP & Board Member Scott Trowbridge, K11 Founder Adrian Cheng, and digital art collector Cozomo de’ Medici.