PIP Labs, the developer of Story Protocol, laid off about 10% of its staff and is shifting its focus to AI intellectual property infrastructure.

PANews reported on March 14th that, according to Decrypt, Story Protocol developer PIP Labs has laid off some employees and contractors, affecting 5 full-time employees and 3 contractors, approximately 10% of the total workforce involved in Story Protocol-related entities. Affected teams include the Story Foundation and the infrastructure project Poseidon. Andrea Muttoni, Chief Protocol Officer at Story, stated that this personnel adjustment aims to further focus on core areas, and the company is increasing its investment in AI intellectual property infrastructure, with a focus on AI training data and AI agent-related applications.

Publicly available information shows that Story Protocol aims to automate intellectual property licensing and royalty processes through a programmable licensing mechanism. The company behind the project completed an $80 million Series B funding round in 2024, valuing the company at approximately $2 billion, led by Andreessen Horowitz.