The DATA Network and its Trace registry are joining the Sui blockchain to support the next generation of AI models with rights-cleared training data. Sui Foundation and The DATA Foundation announced the partnership, which will integrate Trace—an onchain registry for AI training data with over 250 million verifiable receipts—into the Sui stack. Walrus, Sui's data platform with integrity proofs, will serve as the default storage layer for DATA Foundation applications.
The DATA Network will be upgraded to run as a protocol natively on Sui, with its independent chain being retired. The DATA token will transition one-to-one to the Sui protocol, with holder economics and governance rights remaining equivalent to current terms. Locked and vesting positions will carry over unchanged.
Addressing AI Training Data Constraints
AI developers face growing constraints in accessing real-world training data. The open internet has been extensively scraped, requiring new sources that come with consent and documented provenance. Regulatory frameworks including the EU AI Act and ongoing litigation over training data rights have made provenance documentation a procurement requirement for AI labs.
Trace records the origin of each data contribution and its associated rights, then settles payment to the contributor. Since launching in June, the registry has processed over 3 million receipts per day on average. Applications using Trace include Kled, described as the largest opt-in human data marketplace with over 1.5 billion records being onboarded, along with Numo and Oto, which already license data to AI labs and robotics companies.
Technical Integration and Infrastructure
Sui represents each asset as a programmable object, allowing datasets and licenses to be managed onchain similarly to tokens. The network executes independent transactions in parallel and settles them in under one second, enabling handling of millions of daily registrations. Walrus extends this capability by storing large AI datasets efficiently and controlling data access to licensed buyers only.
The integration will provide stronger provenance guarantees and tamper evidence. Trace records will now include encrypted, immutable copies of contributed files stored on Walrus, with file hashes regenerated from the data itself rather than application-supplied metadata. This allows later processing to be verified against the original file.
Strategic Investment and Leadership
Sui Foundation is investing $30 million in the DATA Network, establishing the largest institutional stake in the network alongside holdings by PIP Labs and the DATA Foundation. SY Lee, Chairman of Poseidon and CEO of PIP Labs, is joining Sui Foundation as Strategic Advisor.
The existing DATA Network will continue operating until the upgrade is complete. A detailed timeline and holder transition plan will be published prior to the protocol upgrade.
