Jeff Bezos Set to Head Project Prometheus, Building AI for Physical World Applications: Report

Jeff Bezos has reportedly founded a startup that is soon to emerge from stealth. As per the report, Bezos will take the role of co-Chief Executive Officer, making it his first operational role since 2021, when he stepped down as Amazon's CEO. The startup is reportedly called Project Prometheus, and it operates in the artificial intelligence (AI)-led engineering and manufacturing space across various domains, including computers, aerospace, and automobiles. The startup is reportedly in early stages but is said to be well-funded.

Jeff Bezos Reportedly Creates New AI Startup

According to The New York Times, Bezos is planning a return to an operational role with his new venture, Project Prometheus. The early-stage AI startup has raised $6.2 billion (roughly Rs. 55,000 crore) in funding, with the Amazon and Blue Origin founder contributing a portion, the publication claimed, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Alongside Bezos, Vik Bajaj will be the other co-CEO. He has reportedly worked with Google's Moonshot Factory previously and has collaborated with Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin. Before this, he was working as the CEO of Foresite Labs, which also operated in the AI space. Project Prometheus is said to have about 100 employees, with several researchers being recruited from major AI companies such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Meta.

The LinkedIn page of the startup does not have a lot of information, but it is described as “AI for the physical economy.” The term “physical economy” suggests the company wants to build AI that interacts more directly with the real world, not just digital systems, but machinery, robotics, and industrial processes.

As per the report, there is no information on where Project Prometheus is based or when it was founded. However, based on sources, the report claims that it will soon be announced publicly, which will shed more light on its products and services.

Notably, Bezos' fascination towards AI and its capabilities has been evident ever since the technology gained mainstream attention. The former Amazon CEO has spoken publicly multiple times about AI. Very recently, in a conversation with Ferrari and Stellantis Chairman John Elkann, Bezos discussed the possibility of using space satellites to harness the power of the Sun to fuel AI-led data processing. He highlighted that such clusters could be the norm in the next 10-20 years.