IO Labs is the research engine inside Input Output. We invent and prove the protocols Cardano runs on, then push into what's next: AI-led protocol innovation and new ventures built on Cardano. With a growing bench of specialist partners now scaling day-to-day delivery across the stack, our core team stays focused on the frontier.

Two names, one company.

Input Output (IO) is the company. IO Labs is the team within IO that brings research, applied engineering, and creative engineering together, carrying work from foundational research through to production-ready code and new ventures.

Cardano isn’t owned by any of them. IO is one contributor among many: the Cardano Foundation, Intersect, specialist partners, stake pool operators, DReps, and the wider community all build and govern the chain together.

No. The opposite. IO Labs designed Cardano's core protocols and still invents the next ones, carrying that work from research through to production. What's grown is the bench: a wider roster of specialist partners now scales delivery alongside IO Labs across the stack, all administered through Intersect.

More teams are building Cardano, not fewer. A more diverse base of contributors. Clearer ownership. The same accountability, anchored through Intersect.

This is a sharpening of focus, not a reduction in commitment.

Cardano has reached the point where focused teams deliver strong outcomes across every layer of the stack. Each partner concentrates on the layer where they create the most value, with the long-term capacity to support it. That widens the developer base, sharpens accountability, and makes decentralization real: in protocol, in governance, and now in who builds Cardano. Catalyst has been with the Cardano Foundation since launch. Intersect has housed the Haskell node for two years. This is the next step in a process already underway.

Our first partners have been confirmed so far. Each owns a defined work package, with milestone-gated funding through Intersect.

Teragone. Mithril workstream transition through the planned exit window.

Se7en Labs. Daedalus wallet development and maintenance.

More partners are being explored. We’ll announce each as the structure is confirmed.

Yes. Every workstream remains funded and milestone-gated through Intersect.

Three things hold the line.

First, Intersect administers the funding standards every partner must meet. Each milestone is verified before the next one releases.

Second, the model is phased. The lowest-risk transitions move first.

Third, the work is open. Every partner ships against public repositories, public test plans, and public review. Quality is visible week by week, not claimed on a press release.

Cardano Updates. Weekly team updates from every part of the development effort, published openly by Intersect.

→ updates.cardano.intersectmbo.org

You’ll see updates from the teams behind Network, Consensus, Ledger, Hydra, Mithril, Plutus Core, Crypto, Performance & Tracing, and more, week by week.

It’s the single best place to read what shipped, what’s in flight, and what’s next, written by the engineers doing the work.

The site itself is open source. To suggest improvements or open issues:

→ github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-updates

For long-form posts that step back from the weekly rhythm, see the IO Labs blog.

All of it is public. Cardano’s protocol implementations, tooling, and the teams that build them work in the open.

• Core protocol (node, ledger, consensus, Plutus, networking): github.com/IntersectMBO
• Hydra (L2 scaling): github.com/cardano-scaling/hydra
• Mithril (stake-based certificates and fast bootstrap): github.com/input-output-hk/mithril

Three ways most people start.

Code. Open an issue or a pull request on the relevant repository. Most teams tag good-first-issues for newcomers. For protocol-level changes, the Cardano Improvement Proposal (CIP) process at github.com/cardano-foundation/CIPs is the formal route.

Governance. As a delegated representative (DRep), you vote on governance actions: treasury withdrawals, protocol parameter changes, hard fork initiations, and updates to the constitution itself. Most Conway-era wallets support DRep registration in a few clicks.

Research and ideas. Project Catalyst, run by the Cardano Foundation, funds community-built work each cycle. Proposals are submitted, reviewed, and voted on by Catalyst voters.

Cardano is governed by its community. Following the ratification of CIP-1694, three roles share decision-making on chain.

Delegated representatives (DReps) vote on governance actions: treasury withdrawals, protocol parameter updates, hard forks, and amendments to the constitution.

Stake pool operators (SPOs) carry distinct voting weight on a defined subset of actions, including hard fork initiations and security-relevant parameters.

The constitutional committee verifies that governance actions are constitutional.

IO is one voice among many. We hold no special privilege over the direction of the chain.

The Cardano treasury funds development through the Intersect budget process. Proposals are submitted, evaluated against the constitution, and put to DReps for an on-chain vote.

Successful proposals release funds milestone by milestone. Each milestone is verified before the next one releases. The model applies equally to IO, to specialist partners, and to any team requesting treasury support.