From Ashton Kutcher To Jay-Z, 10 Celebs Who Have Invested in AI Start-ups

Stars across Hollywood and sports are banking on AI big time

Artificial Intelligence is one of the most disruptive technologies transforming organizations, industries, and even people’s lives. Several high-profile investors and venture capitalists are betting big on the emerging AI startups, and celebrities aren’t missing out either. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Elton John, and more have invested millions into AI startups. Here’s a look at 10 celebrities who have invested in AI over the past decade.

1. Ashton Kutcher

Ashon Kutcher stepped into the world of venture capitalism through his firm Sound Ventures, which started investing in AI even before it was hyped. In 2009, Kutcher’s investments supported companies like Foursquare and Skype. Currently, the firm has three artificial technology companies, OpenAI, Anthropic, and stability.ai under its portfolio, per Fox News. As per the publication, this year, the firm raised $243 million in just five weeks to further invest in AI start-ups.

2. Joe Montana

Former NLF quarterback Joe Montana has been a board member of a seed-stage fund called Liquid 2 Ventures since 2015. In the early years of the firm, it invested in tech companies like GitLab, Crowd Cow, Rappi, Captain401, and 90 other seed companies, per AIthority. Montana is also among the investors of the start-up LoanSnap Inc., which helps users get mortgages faster and easier. It uses AI to present data gathered in the application process to help users make better decisions.

3. Leonardo DiCaprio

DiCaprio is known for his extensive environmental work and he created the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 to combat climate change. To further his campaign, he has invested in AI start-ups that work for the environment. He serves as a strategic adviser for Regeneration VC which has invested millions in companies like Greyparrot, an AI recycling company, Fox reported. As per its website, Greyparrot uses AI computer vision systems in sorting facilities across to globe to monitor and sort large-scale waste flows.

4. Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. launched “The Footprint Coalition” venture fund at an AI conference hosted by Amazon in 2019. The organization was created to improve the environment through technology, as per Fox. Later in 2021, the firm, along with other groups contributed to the Series A round of funding for the company ClimateAI, which raised $12 million. ClimateAI is pioneering the application of AI to mitigate the impact of climate change and create new opportunities along the way to help people across the globe.

5. Elton John

British singer and pianist Elton John has invested millions in AI. Along with the firm, AXA Strategic Ventures, John has contributed about $ 6.5 million to a company called Qloo, per TechCrunch. The company calls itself a cultural artificial intelligence data platform. Qloo analyses publicly available and open-source data to find trends and understand patterns in consumer taste in music, film, TV, books, podcasts, consumer products, fashion, and more. It uses the data for its recommendation app that anyone can download.

6. Will.i.am

American musician and Black Eyed Peas artist Will.i.am founded the “i.am+’ technology firm with the mission of creating wearable products that combine fashion and technology. i.am+ raised $ 117 million in venture investment in 2012, per AIthority. In 2018, he founded Omega, which incorporated i.am+ to serve as a platform that provides businesses with tools to develop human-like conversational experiences.

7. Nas

Rapper Nas is a prolific angel investor and founder of the venture capital firm, QueensBridge Venture Partners. The firm invests in start-ups working in various sectors like healthcare, financial technology, and even cryptocurrency. The firm was an early investor in tech company Ring, which manufactures automated WiFi cameras and doorbells, per Analytics Insight. The company was acquired by Amazon for $1 billion, therefore, creating a windfall for the rapper's firm which was an upfront investor in the company.

8. Jay-Z

Jay-Z is known to be one of Uber’s first investors as he invested in the company’s Series B round in 2011 when it was only worth $300 million. Further, through his venture capital firm Marcy Venture Partners, Jay-Z has invested about $16.5 million in an AI pizza service, founded by a group of former SpaceX engineers, per Yahoo Finance. Stellar Pizza, a robot-powered pizza service that uses AI to operate a fully automated delivery service, eliminates overhead costs associated with labor and real estate, as its robotic pizza truck creates and delivers pizzas to customers.

9. Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres is known for her savvy investments in emerging start-ups. Through her Ellen Digital Ventures, which is a joint venture with Warner Bros, DeGeneres has invested in several companies like the music app Chosen and launched the Heads Up app. She reportedly invested an undisclosed amount in a company called Stamped, which was founded by ex-Google employees, as per AIthority. Stamped evolved into a tool for users to track their favorite things around the web. Stamped was bought by Yahoo in 2012 for a whopping $10 million, earning a good profit for the talk show host.

10. Kobe Bryant

Late NBA player Kobe Bryant worked as a venture capitalist after his retirement. He partnered with investor Jeff Stibel to create a $100 million technology fund which made informal investments in 15 different IT, media, and data firms over the years. One of the companies that Bryant invested in was RingDNA. The company uses artificial intelligence to analyze data and hundreds of millions of sales calls, and text conversations to help a company improve its sales tactics, per Forbes.