Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 1
Ashton Kutcher Exits 11-Year Sound Ventures to Launch AI Infrastructure Fund
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 1

Ashton Kutcher Exits 11-Year Sound Ventures to Launch AI Infrastructure Fund

2 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 1

Summary

  • Ashton Kutcher is leaving Sound Ventures after 11 years to start a new venture firm with former NFX general partner Morgan Beller, according to the Wall Street Journal.
  • The split stems partly from different views on startup stage: Sound has leaned toward more established companies, while Kutcher and Beller plan early-stage bets in AI infrastructure, energy and deep tech.
  • Morgan Beller previously co-led Meta's Libra project and spent nearly three years at Andreessen Horowitz, adding crypto and venture experience to the new firm, whose name has not been disclosed.
  • Sound's performance does not appear to be the issue: the firm backed Brex, Gusto, OpenAI, Anthropic and World Labs, while Kutcher will remain an adviser and Guy Oseary and Effie Epstein will advise the new fund.
  • The move highlights a broader AI investing shift from backing headline model makers toward the underlying compute, power and industrial systems needed to run them.

Insights

Following a 43x OpenAI return, why is Kutcher abandoning that model for high-risk deep tech?
Does this pivot to AI's 'picks and shovels' signal the AI software application boom is ending?