Jeff Bezos is back in the CEO seat. The Amazon founder just launched Project Prometheus, an AI startup targeting manufacturing, aerospace, and robotics with a staggering $6.2 billion in funding — one of the largest early-stage raises in AI history.
Bezos will serve as co-CEO alongside Vik Bajaj, a physicist-chemist who previously led projects at Google X and Verily.
Why This Isn't Another Chatbot Company?
Project Prometheus is building AI for the physical economy — not just text prediction. The startup focuses on AI systems that learn from real-world experiments, sensor data, and manufacturing processes to accelerate engineering in aerospace, automotive, and computer hardware.
Unlike ChatGPT-style language models, Prometheus aims to deploy AI directly on factory floors, enabling robots to run scientific experiments autonomously and optimize production in real-time.
Sources suggest Blue Origin, Bezos's space venture, may serve as an early testing ground for these industrial AI systems.
The Dream Team Behind Prometheus
Bezos's co-founder, Vik Bajaj, brings serious scientific credentials. He previously worked with Google co-founder Sergey Brin at Google X, co-founded Verily (Alphabet's life sciences arm), and led GRAIL's cancer-detection research.
The company has already recruited nearly 100 researchers from OpenAI, DeepMind, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia — signaling aggressive ambitions in foundational AI research.
Investment Breakdown
| Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| Total Funding | $6.2 billion |
| Round Type | Early-stage/Seed |
| Lead Investor | Jeff Bezos (partial self-funded) |
| Valuation | Undisclosed |
| Founded | November 2025 |
| Team Size | ~100 employees |
| AICurator Rating | 8.9/10 — Exceptional |
What Happens Next?
Prometheus faces fierce competition from OpenAI's robotics efforts, Tesla's Optimus, and Google DeepMind's robotics division.
Success hinges on whether the team can bridge the gap between AI research and industrial deployment — a challenge requiring six-sigma reliability standards far beyond consumer chatbots.
Early aerospace applications through Blue Origin could validate the technology under extreme conditions, but regulatory hurdles (FAA, ISO certifications) and workforce retraining will test execution speed.
Connect with Project Prometheus
| Platform | Status |
|---|---|
| Website | Not yet public |
| Project Prometheus | |
| Not launched |
