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Can blockchain technology help stop the spread of fake news? This startup says yes
Numbers Protocol was awarded the Metaverse & Web3 category at SXSW Pitch, demonstrating its dedication to a profitable generative AI ecosystem. Their product, Capture, labels digital assets with ownership, creation certificates, and content provenance, ensuring the credibility and reliability of digital media files.
As generative AI technologies led by Chatgpt make a huge splash on social media, the controversies of AI making fake news arise, too. AI-generated works are increasingly found to reference original works by human artists, leading to disputes over ownership and viral fake images. Numbers Protocol, a decentralized network utilizing blockchain technology, is here to solve the problem. Founded in 2019, Numbers Protocol ensures the provenance of digital media files in the online space.
“If you are to build an AI art generator, you will need to feed it data to train the model,” said Sofia Yen, co-founder of Numbers Protocol, “we create the first blockchain-based camera app to register those digital assets so that AI model can use the clean and authorized data for development.” Capture, Numbers Protocol’s major product, will label digital assets with their ownership, creation certificates, asset history, as well as their content provenance. In this way, the images or documents on its blockchain are archived with detailed information, facilitating trust and reliability in the online space.
“So far, there isn’t any protocol like creation certificates for general users to grant permissions for the use of their own data,” said Yan. Numbers Protocol is seeking to work with related organizations to push forward the development. For future roadmap, Numbers Protocol aims to bridge more AI companies and creator communities, realizing a healthy and profitable generative AI ecosystem. The company can offer AI companies a database of digital assets, which have been credited by original creators. Then the generative AI could benefit from using data with documented sources.
Gaining attention overseas, Numbers Protocol has won the Metaverse and Web3 category at the 15th SXSW Pitch among 731 applicants. Held in Austin, the United States, the SXSW Pitch event is an annual competition showcasing early-stage startups and emerging technologies, giving them the opportunity to pitch to a panel of investors and a live audience.
Aiming to combat fake news, Numbers Protocol collaborates with Top news agency Reuters
Further building a reputational image database, Numbers Protocol’s Capture enables users to take photos with space-time tracking. After you take pictures via Capture, your photos will be on the blockchain automatically. One can also opt to mint an NFT based on the picture you just took. The platform provides a comprehensive solution that ensures provenance for all types of creativities created by humans.
Since 2018, Numbers Protocol has collaborated with leading news agency Reuters, which employs 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. The news agency has the demand for certifying their photos so that it could help combat copyright infringement as well as the spreading of fake news. Number Protocol customizes its app to connect with cameras, uploading and archiving the photos once they have been taken.
The company also helps register news projects on its blockchains. For example, “78 days Creating a Photographic Archive of Trust”, was produced by the academic research center Starling Lab and Reuters to document the presidential transition from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. The documentation involves an array of new image authentication technologies and decentralized web protocols provided by Numbers Protocol.
Numbers Protocol keeps extending its influence through various projects, as the credibility of data sources gets more and more important for the information society. While the images from the wilds of the internet can’t be legit evidence in court, Numbers Protocol helps the Starling Lab to deal with the digital media provenance for evidence related to the alleged destruction of Ukrainian schools in Kharkiv by Russian forces. Those data became the first evidence on a chain in the international court.
In collaboration with the magazine Rolling Stone and Starling Lab, Numbers Protocol also took part in photojournalism about investigating war crimes committed by a Serbian force, Arkan’s Tigers — The DJ and the War Crimes, The documents collected during the investigation are captured and registered on Numbers Protocol
Besides working with businesses, Numbers Protocol empowers general users or artists to monetize their works on Capture. The smart contracts will automatically track and distribute the revenue from sales. It can build the web3 creator economy by creating a direct relationship between creators and their audience.
Data scientists grew idea of labeling data in an AI company
The idea for Numbers Protocol was born out of the co-founders’ previous company, DT42, an AI startup that focused on computer vision. Tammy Yang, a Physics PhD at the University of Manchester, launched DT42 together with Bofu Chen, who also had rich experience as a data scientist.
DT42's technology applied to traffic management systems that captured images of vehicles and people at intersections, which raised ethical concerns about how the data was being used. This experience led the founders to develop a system that would give individuals more control over their data and allow them to benefit from its use.
Thus, a group of engineers who are passionate about deep learning and computing systems established Numbers Protocol in 2019. By using blockchain technology, Numbers Protocol enables individuals to retain control over their data while monetizing it, which is particularly important in an age where personal data is often used without the owner's consent.
The pioneering idea received support from notable angel investors such as general partner at Race Capital Phil Chen, co-founder of YouTube Steve Chen, and co-founder of Twitch Kevin Lin. Phil Chen, in particular, encouraged them in the early phase to develop a more ethical and empowering AI solution.
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