In a significant move that signals his deep commitment to the next frontier of technology, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is stepping into his first hands-on operational role since departing the e-commerce giant.
Bezos will serve as co-CEO of a newly revealed artificial intelligence startup, Project Prometheus, which is poised to tackle some of the most complex challenges in engineering and manufacturing. The venture, as reported by the New York Times, aims to develop advanced AI systems specifically for the creation of sophisticated hardware, including next-generation computers, automobiles, and even spacecraft.
Project Prometheus enters the arena with a formidable war chest of $6.2 billion, backed in part by Bezos’s own capital.
This colossal funding round immediately positions the startup as one of the most well-resourced new companies in the global technology landscape. The ambitious initiative will be jointly led by Vik Bajaj, a renowned scientist and entrepreneur who previously co-founded Google’s life sciences division, Verily. Bajaj’s extensive background in blending technology with the physical sciences makes him a pivotal partner in this endeavor, which seeks to move AI from digital realms into tangible, real-world applications.
The company is already assembling an all-star team of researchers, having successfully recruited nearly 100 top AI experts from leading labs including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Meta.
This aggressive hiring spree underscores the project’s serious intentions and its capacity to compete for elite talent. Despite this activity, Project Prometheus has maintained a remarkably low profile, with key details such as its official launch date and headquarters still shrouded in secrecy. This stealth-mode approach is characteristic of highly ambitious, long-term bets in the technology sector.
This venture is part of a broader industry trend where AI is being harnessed to master physical and scientific tasks, a field that extends beyond pure software into robotics and advanced material discovery.
he launch of Project Prometheus, alongside other recent ventures like Periodic Labs, highlights a strategic pivot within the tech industry toward what is often termed “Physical AI.” By placing a figure of Bezos’s stature at the helm, Project Prometheus not only gains immense financial leverage but also a powerful symbol of its grand aspirations to redefine how complex machines and systems are designed and built.
