Jeff Bezos has taken on the role of co-CEO and co-founder of Project Prometheus, a $6.2 billion AI startup focused on developing AI technologies for engineering and manufacturing across various industries. The startup, which has hired top talent from leading AI organizations, remains low-profile, and it is unclear how its work will relate to Amazon’s AI efforts.
Jeff Bezos has taken on a new executive role as co-CEO of Project Prometheus, an artificial intelligence startup that he is helping to finance. This marks Bezos’s first major executive position since stepping down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021. Project Prometheus has raised an impressive $6.2 billion in funding, making it one of the most well-financed early-stage AI startups globally. A portion of this funding has come directly from Bezos himself.
Vic Baj, a scientist and former director at Google X, the tech giant’s secretive advanced research and development division, is set to serve as co-CEO alongside Bezos. Bezos’s LinkedIn profile now lists him as co-CEO and co-founder of Project Prometheus. However, the startup’s public presence remains minimal, with a blacked-out logo and a brief description stating, “AI for the physical economy,” offering little insight into its specific operations.
The company aims to develop AI technologies that support engineering and manufacturing across various sectors, including computing, aerospace, and automobiles. Project Prometheus has already hired around 100 employees, including researchers recruited from leading AI organizations such as OpenAI, Google’s DeepMind, and Meta. It remains unclear whether the startup’s work will overlap with or influence Amazon’s own AI initiatives.
Bezos has not publicly commented on his new role or the startup, and his recent social media activity has focused mainly on his space exploration company, Blue Origin. According to Forbes, Bezos’s net worth stands at approximately $245.9 billion, making him the third richest person in the world, behind Elon Musk and Larry Ellison.
In a related development, Physical Intelligence, another AI startup focused on integrating general-purpose AI into the physical world, raised $400 million last November, with Bezos among its investors. For more detailed information on Project Prometheus and Bezos’s involvement, readers are encouraged to check the full article linked in the video description.