Project Liberty Restructures to Reclaim Data Rights in the AI Era

NEW YORK, NY – January 21, 2026 – Project Liberty, the global initiative founded by civic entrepreneur Frank McCourt to build a more equitable internet, today announced a significant organizational overhaul and a series of high-profile leadership appointments. The move is designed to accelerate its mission to shift data ownership from dominant tech platforms to individuals, a goal the organization sees as increasingly urgent with the rise of agentic artificial intelligence.

The restructuring establishes Project Liberty Labs as a dedicated technology development business and installs new presidents to lead its policy institute and global alliance. This three-pronged strategy aims to intensify the development of human-centric technology, strengthen policy advocacy, and expand its network of partners at what its founder calls a pivotal moment for digital governance.

"More than six years ago, Project Liberty was founded on the belief that reclaiming our personhood in the digital age — the defining challenge of our time — demands urgency, tenacity, and discipline to counter and upend Big Tech's 'move fast and break things' ethos," said Frank McCourt. He emphasized that the changes are a proactive response to rapid technological shifts. "As agentic AI permeates every aspect of digital life, these updates strengthen Project Liberty's ability to innovate and rapidly deploy solutions that help individuals navigate an evolving online landscape while keeping their personal data secure."

A New Tech Offensive Against AI Threats

Central to the announcement is the formal launch of Project Liberty Labs, a team focused exclusively on translating the organization's principles into practical, consumer-facing technologies. The core challenge it seeks to address is the emergence of agentic AI—autonomous systems capable of making decisions and taking actions on a user's behalf. While promising, these systems also pose a profound risk of further centralizing power and data in the hands of a few large corporations, potentially operating without transparency or accountability.

Leading this new entity as CEO is Joe Riley, who previously served as Interim CEO and will also continue in his roles as CFO and COO of McCourt Global, the private family office that has committed $500 million to fund Project Liberty. Riley is tasked with steering the lab's efforts to build tools that empower individual autonomy.

He is joined by Braxton Woodham, who steps into the role of President of Project Liberty Labs. A seasoned technologist with over 20 years of experience at companies like Fandango, Woodham is a co-creator of the very technologies he will now champion: Frequency, a decentralized infrastructure layer, and the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP). DSNP is an open-source protocol designed to function as a universal social layer for the internet, allowing users to own their social graph and move their data freely between applications, breaking the walled gardens of today's social media giants. Woodham will lead the product vision and engineering strategy, working to scale these foundational technologies for widespread adoption.

The Architects of a Decentralized Future

Beyond pure technology development, Project Liberty's strategy relies on a concerted effort in policy and movement-building. The new leadership appointments reflect this integrated approach, placing experienced leaders at the helm of its nonprofit institute and global partner network.

Tomicah Tillemann has been appointed President of the Project Liberty Institute, the independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm. Dr. Tillemann brings a formidable background that spans venture capital at Andreessen Horowitz, senior advisory roles to two U.S. Secretaries of State, and leadership at New America. His new role will leverage this experience to drive academic partnerships with institutions like Stanford, Georgetown, and ETH Zurich, advance research on digital governance, and shape policy solutions for an AI-powered world.

Jeb Bell has been promoted to Executive Director of the Institute, where he will manage daily operations and continue to steward international policy work surrounding open-source initiatives like DSNP.

Complementing the technology and policy efforts is the Project Liberty Alliance, a global network of more than 175 values-aligned organizations. Lara Galinsky has been promoted to Executive Director of the Alliance. An expert in social impact and movement-building, Galinsky is tasked with expanding this ecosystem of tech companies, policy groups, and educational institutions. Alongside Tillemann, she will spearhead the strategy for member engagement and rally broader support for a web that serves people, not platforms.

From Code to Law: A Blueprint for Digital Rights

Project Liberty's restructuring is built on a foundation of tangible momentum. Its core technology, Frequency, has already secured data for more than 16 million users, a significant milestone demonstrating the growing appetite for decentralized alternatives. This technical progress is being matched by real-world policy victories.

The organization played a key role in the passage of Utah's Digital Choice Act in 2025, a landmark piece of legislation that could serve as a blueprint for other states and nations. The Act mandates complete data portability, allowing users to download and transfer their entire social graph—connections, content, and interactions—to competing platforms. It also enforces interoperability, requiring social media companies to build open interfaces that allow for cross-platform communication, much like email.

These provisions directly challenge the network effects and data lock-in that have allowed a few platforms to dominate the digital public square. By creating legal frameworks that support the principles embedded in its DSNP technology, Project Liberty is proving that its vision for a more equitable internet is not merely theoretical but achievable through a combination of innovative code and forward-thinking law.

With its new leadership team and refined organizational structure, Project Liberty is poised to accelerate this dual-front campaign. Over the next year, the organization plans to advance new commercial AI products built on its decentralized infrastructure, deepen its technology policy advocacy in capitals around the world, and continue engaging a global community of experts and citizens on how they can contribute to building a better, more democratic digital future.