Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is taking on an operational leadership role for the first time since 2021 as he steps in as co-CEO of Project Prometheus, an AI startup that has raised $6.2 billion in funding. According to EconomicTimes, the company is backed partly by Bezos and has already hired close to 100 employees, including talent from OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Meta.
Project Prometheus will focus on applying AI to engineering and manufacturing across sectors such as computers, aerospace and automobiles. The approach is centered around building systems that learn from physical experimentation rather than relying solely on digital text, expanding on AI work happening in robotics, chemistry and scientific discovery.
Bezos will lead the company alongside Vik Bajaj, a physicist and former Google X researcher who previously co-founded Verily and later led Foresite Labs. Bajaj has stepped away from his recent role to focus on the new venture.
This marks Bezos’s return to an active executive position after stepping down as Amazon CEO in July 2021. Since then, he has spent more time on Blue Origin and other projects while continuing to invest in emerging AI companies, including Physical Intelligence.
Project Prometheus joins a growing group of firms working on AI systems designed for real-world problem-solving. Companies such as Periodic Labs and major tech players like Google, Meta and OpenAI are also building models aimed at accelerating work in the physical sciences.
The startup has not yet disclosed its launch timeline or headquarters. However, sources reports that it plans to explore large-scale scientific experimentation through AI, placing Bezos directly in the ongoing race to build the next generation of AI technologies.
