As AI technology advances, ethical concerns around copyright, privacy, resource access, and economic inequality are becoming more pressing. To address these issues, Sahara Labs is launching a blockchain-based AI platform that offers users and developers secure ownership and protection of their AI assets, including data, models, and agents. This platform aims to create an open, transparent, and inclusive AI economy, where all contributors are fairly recognised and compensated for their work.

The new investment round was led by Pantera Capital, Binance Labs, and Polychain Capital, with additional contributions from Samsung NEXT, Matrix Partners, dao5, Geekcartel, Nomad Capital, SCB 10X, Canonical Capital, Mirana Ventures, Foresight Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Aegis Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Tangent Ventures, and others.

Sahara AI has also formed partnerships with key figures in AI and academia, including Laksh Vaaman Sehgal (Vice Chairman, Motherson Group), Rohan Taori (Research Scientist, Anthropic), Teknium (Co-founder, Nous Research), Vipul Prakash (CEO, Together AI), and Elvis Zhang (Founding Member, Midjourney).

The new funding will enable Sahara Labs to expand its global team, enhance the capabilities of its AI blockchain, and grow its developer ecosystem.

"At Pantera, we believe in the future of decentralised AI, offering opportunities for personalised products to be built without centralised oversight," said Lauren Stephanian, General Partner of Pantera Capital. "Sahara AI's platform is designed to meet these challenges, providing an ethically designed and universally accessible infrastructure that enables individuals and enterprises to leverage AI's full potential without compromising on privacy or sovereignty. We are excited to support Sean, Tyler and the rest of the team as they build towards this new collaborative AI economy."

"Binance Labs is dedicated to empowering founders in Web3 who have the potential to build innovative tech solutions and create sustainable, lasting impact. We look forward to backing Sahara AI as they pioneer a decentralised AI blockchain platform, reshaping the future of AI to be more transparent, secure, and accessible for everyone," said Yi He, Co-Founder of Binance and Head of Binance Labs.

Since its founding in April 2023 by USC Professor and Viterbi Early Career Chair Sean Ren and former Binance Labs investment director Tyler Zhou, Sahara AI has grown exponentially, and is now trusted by over 35 tech innovators and research institutions, including Microsoft, Amazon, MIT, Motherson Group, and Snap.

"Since our inception, our goal has been to create a future where AI is ethical, transparent, and accessible to all through AI sovereignty and open technology," said Sean Ren, co-founder of Sahara Labs – the driving force contributing to Sahara AI. "With the help of our notable investors and partners, this latest funding is a testament to why it is necessary to establish a robust, decentralised provenance infrastructure within today's rapidly evolving AI-first world."