The co-founder and Chief Protocol Officer of the Story Protocol – Jason Zhao – has officially made an announcement on his official X account about stepping down.
Jason Zhao Steps Down After 3.5 Years
He has been the public face of Story Protocol for 3.5 years. He will remain involved with the project as a strategic advisor while focusing on launching a new company named Poseidon, which specializes in applying AI to frontier fields like science and space.
Jason Zhao and his team
After 3.5 years building Story from scratch, I’m stepping out of my full-time role. I’ll stay closely involved as a strategic advisor.
While incubating Poseidon, I rekindled my original passion from my DeepMind days: applying AI to frontier industries like science and space.… pic.twitter.com/fd8J0c9uSO
— Jason Zhao (@jasonjzhao) August 16, 2025
About Story Protocol management after his leave, the whole team would also receive a reinforcement with new senior hires. This means a planned transition aimed at preparing for the next phase of growth.
What a run, JZ! Very excited to be your key investor and strong AI training data/IP infrastructure partner as you now breakout on your own venture.
From a whiteboard session at San Francisco Wework in ‘22 to building Story into a purpose-built IP blockchain serving top IPs, AI…
— S.Y. Lee Story/IP (@storysylee) August 16, 2025
However, just right after the Story Protocol revealed a major partnership causing its IP token price to soar, Jason Zhao has announced this news.
This combination of good news, a price surge, and the departure of a key founder has sparked debate within the community regarding the project’s future direction.
