Ashton Kutcher departs Sound Ventures to focus on AI infrastructure

Ashton Kutcher is stepping away from Sound Ventures, the venture capital firm he co-founded 11 years ago, to launch a separate venture capital fund. Kutcher is co-founding the new, yet-unnamed firm alongside Morgan Beller. Beller joins the new venture after spending nearly three years as a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

The new firm will focus on making early-stage investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, energy, and deep tech startups. For a non-Silicon Valley audience, AI infrastructure is defined as the physical and energy resources required to power complex AI models. Meanwhile, deep tech refers to startups built around hard science and engineering breakthroughs rather than software applications alone.

This investment focus represents a strategic shift in how capital is allocated within the artificial intelligence sector. While Sound Ventures built its reputation on concentrated, high-conviction investments in category-leading AI labs, Kutcher’s new fund appears to be chasing the layer underneath those companies—specifically the physical infrastructure and energy resources that power them.

Kutcher’s personal ties to the artificial intelligence sector include a long-standing relationship with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whom Kutcher has known since Altman founded the startup Loopt years before the launch of the ChatGPT creator. Sound Ventures itself has been an active player in the AI ecosystem, serving as an early investor in OpenAI.

The exit does not appear to be a sign of trouble at Sound Ventures. While partners often depart underperforming firms, that is not the case for Sound. Despite the split, the parties will maintain close advisory ties. Kutcher will continue to serve as an adviser to Sound Ventures. Meanwhile, Sound Ventures co-founder Guy Oseary and general partner Effie Epstein will serve as advisers to Kutcher and Beller’s new firm.

The transition has drawn attention from academic and industry observers. Ilya Strebulaev, a Stanford finance professor who tracks top-performing venture capitalists, noted Kutcher’s strong track record in the sector. “He and his fund consistently make it onto [my] rankings of top unicorn investors. An interesting case!” Strebulaev wrote.

Why it matters

The split highlights a maturing AI investment landscape: while Sound Ventures built its reputation on high-conviction bets in category-leading AI labs, the new fund is pivoting to the infrastructure and energy resources that power those companies.