Ashton Kutcher is departing Sound Ventures, the firm he co-founded in 2013, to launch a new venture capital fund. The actor and investor will partner with Morgan Beller, formerly of NFX and Meta's Libra project, for the yet-unnamed firm. This move signals a strategic shift towards early-stage investments in AI infrastructure and deep tech.

Sound Ventures, which backed notable companies like Brex and OpenAI, has focused on more established AI labs. Kutcher's new venture, however, aims to capture opportunities in the foundational layers powering these advanced technologies, including energy and specialized engineering breakthroughs. This divergence in investment stage focus is a primary driver for the split.

Kutcher will remain an advisor to Sound Ventures, while his former firm's general partners will advise the new entity. This collaboration structure underscores a continued, albeit separate, commitment to the venture ecosystem. The move highlights a growing investor appetite for the critical, underlying components of the AI revolution, beyond just the software applications themselves.