[Update: Although Recode’s original article suggests Kutcher will work on smartphones, Lenovo contacted Digital Trends to clarify that the agreement only extends to tablets.]
Last time we heard Ashton Kutcher and Lenovo in the same sentence, the Chinese tech company was bringing aboard the star of That ’70s Show and Jobs as a project engineer. We’ve seen several celebrities enter the technology world, with Robert Downey Jr, Lady Gaga, and Alicia Keys partnering with HTC, Polaroid, and BlackBerry, respectively. However, Kutcher seems to have a much more active role, as revealed by Lenovo chief marketing officer David Roman.
In an interview with Recode, Roman revealed that Kutcher and Lenovo will release a line of special edition tablets later this year. “I know on one level, it sounds corny, but it is real,” said Roman. “He not only sees himself as an engineer, but he is an engineer. If he sees a problem, he wants to solve it.”
Roman is not joking. Kutcher went to the University of Iowa and studied biochemical engineering, though he later dropped out to pursue modeling. Kutcher also co-founded A-Grade Investments, a venture capital group that invested in several startups, such as Foursquare, Airbnb, and Uber.
Unfortunately, Roman did not reveal exactly when we should expect these special-edition tablets, though Kutcher’s relationship with Lenovo may be more than just cosmetic.
