Sui Foundation’s $30 million investment in DATA Network pairs funding with a blockchain migration: the AI training data protocol will move to Sui and retire its independent chain. The partnership also brings its data infrastructure to Walrus, with the aim of expanding access to rights-cleared training material for AI labs.
Key takeaways
- Sui Foundation will become DATA Network’s largest institutional holder.
- DATA tokens will transfer to Sui at a 1:1 ratio.
- Trace has logged over 250 million contributions since June.
According to The Block, DATA Foundation said the agreement will place Sui Foundation alongside existing stakeholders PIP Labs and DATA Foundation. The existing network will keep operating until the transition finishes.
Sui Foundation’s investment in DATA Network
The investment will make Sui Foundation the network’s largest institutional stakeholder, DATA Foundation said. It forms part of a strategic partnership covering both the protocol’s move to Sui and its integration with onchain storage platform Walrus.
DATA Foundation, which supports the network, shifted its focus in June from general intellectual property infrastructure to AI training data. The agreement brings that infrastructure onto Sui rather than maintaining it on a separate blockchain.
How DATA Network and its token will migrate
DATA Network will receive an upgrade to operate natively as a protocol on Sui. Its standalone blockchain will be retired once the transition is complete.
The existing DATA token will transfer at a one-to-one ratio. According to Crypto.news, the joint announcement states that holders will keep economic benefits and governance rights at least equal to what they currently have, while locked tokens and already-established vesting schedules will remain unaffected.
DATA Foundation plans to publish a detailed migration schedule before the upgrade, along with instructions for token holders.
Walrus storage and Trace’s AI data registry
Walrus will serve as the default storage layer for applications operated by DATA Foundation. Sui Foundation’s investment in DATA Network supports a partnership intended to scale the AI training data supply chain and give labs access to real-world material they have permission to use.
The network’s Trace registry, launched in June, records where training data comes from and the rights governing its use. It also settles payments to the people who contribute that data.
According to DATA Foundation’s statement, Trace has registered more than 250 million contributions since launch and handles an average of more than 3 million receipts daily.
Consent and provenance in AI training data
Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder and chief product officer at Mysten Labs, linked the partnership to AI developers’ need for datasets with documented consent and provenance. Mysten Labs is the original contributor to Sui and Walrus.
“The AI industry has reached the point where the open internet has been read, and the next frontier is defined by access to datasets with the consent and provenance that regulators require,” Abiodun said.
He also said the data coming through DATA Network and Trace is already serving frontier AI labs.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.