PIP Labs

About PIP Labs

PIP Labs, founded in 2022 by Seung Yoon (S. Y.) Lee, Jason Zhao and Jason Levy, is the research and engineering company behind DATA Network, a Layer 1 blockchain that sources, verifies and processes real-world data for AI training. Originally developed as Story Protocol, a programmable intellectual property network, the protocol rebranded to DATA Network in 2026 to focus on the supply of human-generated data for artificial intelligence.

The network lets individuals contribute data through opt-in marketplaces such as Numo and Kled, which is then processed into clean, validated, model-ready datasets by projects such as Poseidon. Trace, the network's flagship tool, provides a public audit layer where any data record can be verified for provenance and consent. The company's mission is to give AI developers access to high-quality, trustworthy training data with consent and provenance built in, while enabling contributors to be compensated for their data.

PIP Labs operates as the central development force of the DATA Network ecosystem, alongside the DATA Foundation and infrastructure layer Poseidon. It is backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital, Samsung Next and Hashed.