Who Owns the Future of AI? ProRata’s $40M Bet on Content Control
Sep 7, 2025
Generative AI runs on content. Every article, video, report, or blog fuels the engines behind today’s AI models. But there’s a problem that’s been impossible to ignore: the creators aren’t being paid.
Publishers, who pour time and money into journalism, research, and unique insights, have watched their IP get scraped, remixed, and served up by AI systems without permission. Models make billions, while the people creating the data that powers them are left fighting for scraps.
This imbalance has been clear for months. Now, with ProRata.ai raising $40M for its product Gist Answers, we’re starting to see a shift: AI tools that put control, and value, back into the hands of content owners.
ProRata’s play: From passive data source to active asset
ProRata’s Gist Answers is more than a search widget. It’s a system designed to let publishers control how their content is used in AI-powered tools.
Here’s how it works:
Publishers can embed AI search and summarisation directly into their own platforms.
They can pool content with a network of 750+ other publishers to create richer datasets.
Results are generated from licensed material, ensuring ownership is respected and monetised.
Instead of content being scraped for free, publishers can finally license their data to AI systems on their terms.
This flips the dynamic. AI becomes a monetisation channel instead of a silent drain on IP.
Why this shift matters beyond publishing
Even if you’re not a publisher, the lesson is bigger: AI must be designed with ownership, governance, and trust at its core.
Think about what’s happening:
In music, artists are fighting streaming platforms over royalties. AI-generated tracks are blurring the lines of originality and ownership.
In healthcare, patient data is being fed into AI models - but who owns the insights, and who benefits financially?
In retail, customer purchase histories are being used to train recommendation engines. Does that data belong to the platform, the retailer, or the customer?
The same pattern appears everywhere. Without clear frameworks, AI value escapes the creators and lands in the hands of whoever controls the model.
The business lesson: Protect your crown jewels
If your business relies on unique processes, proprietary data, or customer insights, ask yourself:
Who owns the data feeding your AI systems?
Are your automations built on your IP - or on someone else’s?
How do you prevent vendors from siphoning value out of your workflows?
Because here’s the truth: if you don’t design for ownership, someone else will own it for you.
How Intellisite builds for ownership and ROI
At Intellisite.co, this is the foundation of how we build agentic AI systems.
Your data, not scraped data. We design agents that pull from your CRM, customer history, and internal docs - not the open void.
Your workflows, not bolt-ons. Agents operate inside the systems your team already uses, making them intuitive and trusted.
Your value, protected. Automations are structured so that the ROI stays with your team - measured in hours saved, errors reduced, and revenue improved.
That’s why our clients don’t just experiment with AI. They own it, and they see it pay off.
The bigger picture
ProRata’s raise signals something more important than just one company’s growth. It shows that the next stage of AI isn’t just about smarter models - it’s about smarter ecosystems. Ecosystems where:
IP is licensed, not stolen.
Businesses retain control over their assets.
AI augments workflows without diluting ownership.
That’s the model worth building on.
The bottom line
AI without ownership is chaos. AI with ownership is opportunity.
ProRata’s $40M round is a reminder that the future of AI will belong to those who protect their content, structure their systems, and keep value where it belongs.
If you’re ready to design AI that works for your business - not against it - visit www.intellisite.co. Let’s build systems that keep your IP protected and your ROI measurable.