Signed data pioneer SignSplit launches with $400M to help everyone get paid for their AI contributions

Few technology companies can help users to protect and monetize their personal data for artificial intelligence as well as SignSplit PBC, it seems.

That explains why it has already secured a massive $1 billion valuation today after launching with a bumper $400 million in funding from W Group, a global group consisting of 11 financial technology firms focused on blockchain tech. SignSplit was quietly established back in 2024, with its founders setting out to resolve the growing challenge around personal data and provenance at a time when AI was getting thirstier than ever for information.

The startup, led by co-founder and Chief Executive Alessandro Monterosso, believes that the next generation of AI and intelligent robotics is going to need extremely high-quality, real-world human data, knowledge and creativity across fields spanning science, media and healthcare. However, most existing AI models make do with data that’s scraped from the internet, and that much of it has opaque origins.

To obtain access to higher quality human data, AI developers will likely have to pay for it, and that means having a system in place to establish clear provenance, permissions and usage rights. This is where SplitSign’s concept of “signed data” comes into play.

Signed data refers to human data contributions that have established provenance and give clear consent for it to be used under defined terms. It has built the underlying infrastructure that enables this signed data to be contributed, verified, protected and licensed, ensuring that anyone who provides high-quality data will be compensated for doing so.

For individual contributors, SignSplit offers a clear promise: They simply “sign the data and split the value.” Users can protect their digital assets, including specific datasets, their likeness, their voices and other bodies of work, by digitally signing them to establish verifiable consent and the terms under which that data can be used by AI models.

Alternatively, users can contribute their data into what SignSplit calls “data pools,” which aggregate very specific types of data from multiple users and make it available to AI developers. The more value their data creates, the greater the financial upside for the contributors, who are compensated based on how often it’s used.

Monterosso said the boundary between technology and human experience is becoming increasingly blurred. “As AI reaches further into the real world, human knowledge, creativity, skills and identity will become increasingly connected to how technology evolves and interacts with the world around us,” he said. “We believe SignSplit and the use of signed data can become the bridge between the two, connecting human contribution with protection, participation and compensation as technology advances.”

Though SignSplit wants individual humans to contribute their data and get paid for it, it’s also targeting companies with the offer of access to the exact type of high-quality datasets they need, without any legal concerns or ethical ambiguity. Businesses can create their own data pools and define what kind of real-world data or skills they need to train their AI models, allowing individuals to contribute it to them directly, so long as they agree to the terms requested by the company.

There are also “research pools” specifically for universities and life sciences firms, heard towards one-off and ongoing studies that require real human participation. Organizations can also use SignSplit’s verification layer to check if a specific dataset or likeness is signed, so they can ensure their intended use meets the conditions associated with it.

W Group founder and President Volodymyr Nosov said his group will devote additional capital and resources to accelerate a rapid global rollout of SignSplit’s technology, aiding its push to become the founding infrastructure of AI’s emerging signed-data economy.

“SignedSplit sets a new standard for the use of individuals’ and institutions’ data, work and likenesses,” he said. “We believe that every serious participant in AI and the data economy will come to rely on SignSplit’s infrastructure, and the scale of our commitment reflects both how early we believe we are, and how important we believe these solutions will be for every industry that relies on human data.”

Images: SignSplit