Sui Foundation has committed $30 million to DATA Network as the AI training-data protocol prepares to migrate from its own blockchain onto Sui, retiring its independent network and making Sui the home for its token, applications, and core infrastructure.
The agreement ties the funding to a technical transition that would run DATA Network natively on the Sui stack and integrate Walrus, the decentralized storage platform developed within the Sui ecosystem. DATA Foundation said the Sui-backed entity will become the network’s largest institutional holder, alongside existing stakeholders PIP Labs and the foundation.
The deal places a protocol focused on tracking AI training data inside an established Layer 1 ecosystem rather than maintaining a separate chain. DATA Network said it will continue operating during the migration, with a detailed implementation timeline to be released before the upgrade begins.
Data token set for one-to-one migration
Existing DATA tokens are expected to move to Sui on a one-to-one basis under the proposed transition. DATA Foundation did not provide a date for the swap or specify the technical process in its announcement, but said the network would remain active while the migration is completed.
The plan would end DATA Network’s role as an independent blockchain and shift its token activity to Sui. For holders, the practical issue will be the eventual migration procedure and deadlines set by the foundation, rather than a change in the nominal supply ratio.
A one-to-one migration can reduce confusion around token conversion, but the process will depend on how the network handles token contracts, wallet support, and any assets or applications still tied to the retiring chain. The foundation said it will issue further guidance as the upgrade approaches.
Sui Foundation’s capital commitment also gives DATA Network resources to carry out the transition while expanding its AI-data products. The organization did not detail how the $30 million would be allocated between development, storage, ecosystem support, or operations.
Walrus becomes the storage layer for foundation applications
Walrus is set to become the default storage layer for applications operated by DATA Foundation. The integration is intended to support the large files and records associated with AI data, where retaining provenance information, licensing terms, and usage records can require more storage than a conventional onchain transaction.
Blockchains are generally unsuited to storing large datasets directly because replicated storage raises costs. A storage layer such as Walrus can hold underlying data or associated files while Sui records the transactions, permissions, and application logic connected to them.
That architecture could give DATA Network a more direct route to handling training-data records at scale. Instead of maintaining consensus, token infrastructure, and data-storage relationships across a standalone network, the protocol would rely on Sui for execution and Walrus for storage.
DATA Foundation shifted its focus in June from general intellectual-property infrastructure to AI training data. The move reflects a growing commercial and regulatory focus on the origin of material used to train AI systems, especially where data owners, creators, and developers need a verifiable record of permissions and compensation.
Trace tracks data origin and contributor payments
The foundation launched its Trace product in June to record the origin and usage rights of AI training data and settle payments to contributors. DATA Foundation said the Trace registry has recorded more than 250 million contributions since launch and is now processing more than 3 million receipts per day on average.
Those receipts appear to be the core unit of activity for the protocol’s data-rights system, creating records that can show when material was contributed or used. The reported volume suggests the migration concerns an active application layer rather than solely a token or infrastructure redesign.
The challenge for DATA Network will be preserving that record continuity as it changes chains. AI-data provenance systems depend on an auditable history: contributors and customers need records to remain accessible and verifiable after the underlying network infrastructure changes.
A Sui-based deployment combined with Walrus storage would aim to preserve that history while giving the protocol access to a network built for high-throughput applications. The foundation has not yet described how historical records on the existing DATA chain will be indexed, transferred, or referenced after the migration.
Partnership targets consent-based data sourcing
Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder and chief product officer of Mysten Labs, said in the partnership announcement that sourcing real-world training data requires consent and provenance standards that can meet regulatory expectations.
The comment frames the partnership around a practical AI-industry problem: model developers face greater scrutiny over whether training material was collected with permission, whether its ownership can be established, and whether contributors can be compensated when their data is used.
DATA Network’s approach relies on turning those questions into records and transactions. Trace is designed to associate datasets with contribution and rights information, while the payment mechanism is intended to compensate contributors according to the protocol’s rules.
Moving to Sui does not resolve the legal status of any particular dataset or determine whether an AI developer has satisfied copyright, privacy, or licensing obligations. It could, though, give participants a more structured way to document consent, usage rights, and payment flows.
The $30 million commitment makes the migration more than a standard cross-chain token move. It connects DATA Network’s AI-data registry and payment system to Sui’s execution environment and Walrus’s storage infrastructure, while placing the protocol’s next stage of development inside a larger ecosystem. The immediate milestones will be the migration timeline, token-swap mechanics, and the foundation’s plan for maintaining Trace records through the transition.
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