Data Guardians Network Secures $5M from droppGroup to Advance Ethical AI

The funding propels D-GN out of stealth and fast-tracks its global expansion, scaling contributor operations, multimodal data pipelines, and enterprise integrations across international markets.

D-GN helps enterprises develop reliable AI systems by collecting high-quality, human-generated training data through a decentralized global network. Contributors participate in tasks like image labeling, voice recognition, lip sync analysis, and emotion detection via an interactive, game-like platform. In return, they earn rewards in USDT, Tether’s stablecoin. This model provides users worldwide with new income opportunities while ensuring that the AI datasets produced are accurate, inclusive, and aligned with regulatory standards.

Johanna Cabildo, Founder and CEO of D-GN, shared her vision for the company’s mission and role in shaping the future of AI: “The truth is, today’s AI isn’t intelligent, it’s predictive. What’s missing is context, consciousness and credibility. Data Guardians Network exists to fill that gap. We’re building the intelligence layer of the AI economy, a system grounded in real human input, ethical provenance and data you can trust. If AI is the engine, we’re the compass.”

Unlike traditional AI annotation platforms that are frequently criticized for unclear labor practices and reliance on unlicensed data, D-GN takes a transparent approach by leveraging a decentralized contributor system with on-chain traceability via the Solana blockchain. By integrating stablecoin payments, the platform guarantees fair compensation for contributors and responsible training of AI models.

As Saudi Arabia transforms into a global hub for AI and innovation, our focus must remain on building infrastructure rooted in ethics, equity and opportunity,” said Mr. Hamoud Al-Rumayyan. He added, “Data Guardians Network represents a new model, one where the people who power AI are finally included in its value creation. This is not just an investment, it’s a step toward a more inclusive digital economy aligned with the Saudi Vision 2030."

This investment will allow D-GN to expand its contributor network across MENA, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, aiming to become the world’s leading provider of ethical AI training data.

Miami-based droppGroup, a leader in AI and blockchain infrastructure known for sovereign-grade deployments with Saudi Aramco, Cisco, and Oracle, also participated in the funding round. The investment reinforces droppGroup’s commitment to ethical, sovereign-grade AI systems and broadens its portfolio of compliance-driven, transparent, and human-centric technologies.

Faisal Al Monai, Chairman of droppGroup, said, “Billions of dollars in lawsuits are hitting the AI industry because foundational models have been trained on stolen or unlicensed data.” He continued, “D-GN solves this industrial problem. It transforms global human input into an auditable, tokenized data engine that ethically trains, verifies and improves AI systems across voice, image and text. We made this investment because we see this as a core pillar of the future AI stack for all our clients.”

He added, “When we saw Meta purchase a stake in Scale AI for around $14-15 billion, investing in D‑GN at this stage looked like a steal. More importantly, D‑GN does it differently, upholding both ethical AI and ethical labor standards. No outsourcing to click‑farms, no gray IP zones - just clean, compliant, fair data.”