Sui Foundation Invests $30 Million in DATA Network as AI Data Protocol Migrates to Sui
$30 million deal brings DATA Network onto the Sui blockchain
Sui Foundation has committed $30 million to DATA Network, a protocol that manages AI training data. Under the new agreement, DATA Network will stop running on its own independent blockchain and instead operate directly on Sui, a fast, programmable blockchain used for crypto transactions and applications. The DATA Foundation announced the partnership on October 11.
Sui Foundation will become DATA Network's largest institutional holder. The existing DATA token will migrate to Sui on a one-to-one basis, meaning each existing token will be carried over with the same value.
Walrus, an on-chain data storage platform built by the same team behind Sui, will serve as the default storage layer for applications run by DATA Foundation.
What the DATA Foundation said
DATA Foundation, which supports DATA Network, shared a statement with The Block outlining the terms of the partnership. According to that statement:
- DATA Network's independent chain will be retired.
- The existing DATA token will move to Sui one-to-one.
- The current DATA Network will keep operating until the transition is finished.
- The foundation plans to release a detailed timeline before the upgrade begins.
- Sui Foundation, PIP Labs, and DATA Foundation will be the key institutional stakeholders.
DATA Foundation shifted its focus from general intellectual property infrastructure to AI training data in June 2026.
Key numbers from the DATA Network's Trace registry
DATA Network operates a tool called Trace, launched in June 2026, that tracks where AI training data comes from and who has the rights to use it. Trace also handles payment to the person who originally contributed the data.
- Trace has recorded more than 250 million data contributions since its launch.
- It processes over 3 million receipts per day on average.
According to the statement, the upgrade is intended to give AI labs a place to source real-world training data that they have legal permission to use.
Comment from Mysten Labs
Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder and chief product officer at Mysten Labs, commented on the move. Mysten Labs was the original team behind both 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 added that migrating DATA Network and Trace to the Sui stack brings "massive volumes of high-quality, rights-cleared data that is already serving the world's frontier AI labs."
Why this matters for the AI and crypto space
As AI models rely more on large datasets for training, questions about data ownership and legal permission to use that data have become increasingly important. Trace was designed to address these concerns by recording the source and usage rights of each dataset.
By moving DATA Network onto Sui, the partnership ties AI data management directly to a blockchain, which allows transparent tracking of data provenance and automated payments to contributors. The combination of Sui for processing and Walrus for storage creates a single technical stack for handling AI training data on-chain.
What happens next
The DATA Foundation said it will publish a detailed timeline for the migration before the upgrade is completed. Until then, the existing DATA Network will continue to operate on its current infrastructure. No specific date for the transition has been announced.
Sources
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