Jeff Bezos is plunging into the artificial intelligence (AI) fray – and he’s betting billions of dollars of his fortune.
The Amazon.com Inc. founder is pouring $6.2 billion into Project Prometheus, an AI startup where he will serve as co-CEO. The startup, among the most well-capitalized early-stage ventures globally, aims to develop AI systems for engineering and manufacturing operations across multiple industries, the New York Times reported.
Bezos, 61, is partnering with physicist and chemist Vik Bajaj, who will serve as co-CEO. Bajaj previously worked at Google X, the tech giant’s experimental division known as its “moonshot factory” for developing cutting-edge technology. The lab helped launch Google-backed ventures including autonomous vehicle company Waymo and life sciences firm Verily, which Bajaj co-founded in 2015. (Verily is a research lab operated by Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc.)
Most recently, Bajaj led AI startup incubator Foresite Labs before reportedly departing to join forces with Bezos on Project Prometheus.
The venture has already assembled a team of nearly 100 employees, drawing talent from leading AI firms including researchers from Google’s DeepMind, OpenAI, and Meta Platforms Inc., the Times reported.
Project Prometheus, which marks Bezos’ first formal operational role since he stepped down as Amazon CEO in July 2021, represents a strategic alignment with Bezos’ space ambitions. According to the company’s LinkedIn page, it is focused on “AI for the physical economy.” The Times said its work will resemble that of Periodic Labs, which is building technology to speed up scientific research by simulating the physical world to train AI models. Periodic Labs, backed by $300 million in funding, plans to build its own lab in Northern California, where robots will run scientific experiments on a large enormous scale.
The new Bezos company, whose headquarters location has yet to be disclosed, is developing AI technology aimed at advancing engineering and manufacturing capabilities across multiple sectors, including computers, aerospace, and automobiles.
While Bezos maintains deep involvement with Blue Origin, where he holds the title of founder, the rocket company competes directly with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Musk, who serves as Tesla Inc.’s CEO, also operates his own AI company, xAI.
Project Prometheus is among several companies focused on applying AI to physical tasks, including robotics, drug design, and scientific discovery. Last year, Bezos invested in Physical Intelligence, a startup which is applying AI to robots.
Amazon was not immediately available for comment.
“Project Prometheus is a strong signal that the physical economy is becoming the next major frontier for AI. The focus on engineering, manufacturing, and scientific workflows mirrors what we have been seeing across our own partners in aerospace, defense, and advanced robotics,” Charles Wong, CEO of Bifrost AI, said in an email. “What we find most encouraging is the recognition that breakthroughs in autonomy, advanced manufacturing, and scientific discovery depend not just on bigger models but on better representations of the world they operate in. The more investment and talent entering this space, the faster the ecosystem around physical AI will mature.”
