a16z Crypto invests $15 million to support the Poseidon project, aimed at solving AI data bottlenecks.

The decentralized AI data infrastructure project Poseidon recently completed a $15 million seed round financing, led by a16z crypto. Poseidon plans to use this funding to accelerate the construction of a full-stack data infrastructure layer aimed at robotics, multimodal models, and next-generation physical AI, to address the most critical yet often overlooked bottleneck issues in current AI development: high-quality, IP-secure, and traceable data acquisition.

The chief scientist of Poseidon stated: "In today's world where models and computing power are gradually being commoditized, the real competitive barrier is data."

Poseidon's mission is to extend the concept of a programmable IP layer to real-world data and AI training scenarios. The project aims to create an underlying protocol that supports programmable ownership, licensing, and attribution of creative and AI assets, leveraging these capabilities to support the circulation and compliant use of data for AI.

AI moves from digital to physical, data bottlenecks intensify

In the past two years, AI has made significant breakthroughs in the fields of text and images. However, as AI extends into physical world scenarios such as robotics, autonomous driving, and smart devices, the demand for real-world data has surged sharply.

Currently, the existing data collection model faces three major structural challenges:

1. Scarcity of long-tail data: The collection costs of high-value data (such as POV videos, 3D simulations, edge sensors) are high and the sources are dispersed.
2. Licensing and Compliance Risks: The traditional data chain is complex and copyright is unclear, making it difficult for enterprises to safely utilize.
3. Lack of incentive mechanism: Data contributors lack ownership protection and profit distribution, resulting in a lack of willingness to participate.

Industry experts point out that the next generation of AI models not only needs to "see the world," but also to "understand and act upon the world."

Poseidon: The Data Operating System Built for AI

To address the challenges mentioned above, Poseidon provides a comprehensive operational system that covers the entire process of collection, annotation, licensing, circulation, traceability, and incentives, transforming data from "resources" into "assets" that truly possess legal validity and economic incentive mechanisms.

The president of Poseidon stated: "By relying on a programmable IP layer and an immutable IP registration system, we ensure that each dataset is IP licensed, traceable, and executable. Combined with our integrated licensing module, the team can seamlessly complete data authorization, monetization, and usage without worrying about legal risks. This is not just infrastructure development; it is also empowering AI systems that can be truly deployed in the real world."

Poseidon's core capabilities include:

• Full-stack data pipeline: supports standardized collection and cleaning of multi-source data.
• On-chain IP registration and traceability: All data is registered in the form of IP assets, ensuring clear provenance and legal authorization.
• Incentive and Permission Module: Contributors, Annotators, and Synthetic Models can obtain revenue distribution through smart contracts.
• Composable data marketplace: Developers can filter, call, and integrate data by licenses, automatically triggering permissions and revenue sharing.

Building the Data Economy Foundation in the AI Era

The founder and managing partner of a16z crypto stated: "AI foundational models have exhausted the most easily accessible training data. Poseidon's decentralized data layer is attempting to establish a new economic foundation for the internet, rewarding creators and data providers who contribute diverse inputs for the next generation of intelligent systems. We are excited to support Poseidon in addressing one of the most critical bottlenecks in AI development."

Poseidon has partnered with several leading AI companies and will use this round of financing to expand its technology stack, including an SDK toolkit, a data contributor workstation, and a licensing and profit-sharing management module. The early access channel will open this summer, targeting AI developers and data contributors for registration.

About Poseidon

Poseidon is a decentralized full-stack data layer tailored for AI training processes. The project aims to connect high-quality data supply with AI model demand. The platform supports the entire link process from data contribution, licensing, to verification and integration, ensuring that data has security, compliance, and economic incentive mechanisms.