ChainThink report, March 14: PIP Labs, the development company behind Layer 1 IP blockchain Story Protocol, recently laid off 5 full-time employees and 3 contractors, accounting for approximately 10% of personnel working on Story-related initiatives. The company stated this move aims to reallocate resources and further focus on intellectual property (IP) infrastructure related to AI agents and AI training data.

Prior to this, PIP Labs completed an $80 million Series B funding round in 2024, achieving a valuation of around $2 billion led by Andreessen Horowitz. Meanwhile, Poseidon (AI data platform), an incubation project within the Story ecosystem, is providing compliant training data for AI developers, and its growth has been identified as a key driver behind the company’s strategic pivot.