DATA Network, previously recognized across the blockchain industry as Story, has announced plans to wind down its independent blockchain infrastructure and transition its core artificial intelligence training data protocol to the Sui network. The strategic migration is being bolstered by a substantial $30 million investment from the Sui Foundation, marking a major consolidation effort within the decentralized technology sector as specialized layer-1 networks increasingly seek the scale and security of established ecosystems.
Under the terms of the agreement finalized on Monday, the project’s Trace registry—which was originally launched in June to address provenance and copyright challenges in machine learning—will be fully integrated into the Sui ecosystem. Additionally, Walrus, a decentralized storage platform native to the Sui ecosystem, is set to become the default storage layer for all applications operated by the DATA Foundation and its network of partners.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, a representative for the DATA Foundation explained the operational and economic reasoning behind abandoning a dedicated chain. Running an independent blockchain exclusively for a single use case carries heavy, ongoing financial and logistical burdens, including the continuous costs associated with maintaining decentralized validators, ensuring robust network security, and managing complex underlying infrastructure.
The spokesperson noted that attempting to build customized storage and advanced access control at the necessary scale independently would have meant redundantly recreating capabilities that Sui and its ecosystem already possess through Walrus and Seal. By leveraging Sui’s pre-existing technical architecture, the project can redirect its resources away from infrastructure maintenance and focus entirely on product development and protocol expansion.
The decision to migrate follows closely on the heels of the project’s major rebranding earlier this year. In June, Story Foundation officially rebranded as the DATA Foundation, executing a strategic pivot away from its initial focus on general intellectual property licensing to concentrate heavily on building a comprehensive full stack for artificial intelligence training data. Alongside this rebrand, the foundation launched Trace, a specialized tool designed to meticulously track the origin, provenance, and licensing rights of data utilized in training advanced AI models.
The demand for reliable data tracking tools in the artificial intelligence sector has proven immense. As Trace experienced rapid adoption, growing to encompass more than 270 million registrations in a span of approximately four months, the limitations of maintaining an independent, single-use blockchain became increasingly apparent. The DATA Foundation representative emphasized that with such rapid transactional and registry growth, continuing to operate a standalone chain no longer made operational or economic sense for the project’s long-term trajectory.
Despite the impending migration, the DATA Network’s current blockchain will remain fully operational while the technical upgrade and transition process are completed. Leadership at the DATA Foundation has confirmed that a comprehensive timeline and a detailed holder transition plan will be published publicly well in advance of the network upgrade, ensuring that community members and token holders are kept fully informed throughout the migration phases.
Addressing questions regarding the financial dynamics of the partnership and whether the funding injection was the primary driver of the move, the representative clarified that the $30 million investment from the Sui Foundation is a distinct and separate component of the broader collaboration agreement, rather than a direct payment influencing the technical migration decision.
The existing chain will continue to process transactions and maintain state until the migration framework is finalized and deployed. The partner organizations reiterated that they are committed to transparency, promising that further announcements detailing the exact rollout schedule and technical instructions for token holders will be made available prior to the transition.
