Key facts
- Prometheus, co-founded by Jeff Bezos and Vik Bajaj, has raised $12 billion in a new funding round.
- The startup is valued at $41 billion, with total funding now at $18.2 billion.
- Investors in the latest round include Bezos, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock.
- Prometheus aims to develop an "artificial general engineer" to automate design and manufacturing of physical systems.
- Significant capital will be allocated to acquiring compute power for AI development.
Jeff Bezos's AI startup, Prometheus, has secured $12 billion in a new funding round, bringing its total funding to $18.2 billion and valuing the company at $41 billion. Co-founded by Bezos and Vik Bajaj, the startup is focused on developing "physical AI," aiming to automate the design and manufacturing of complex physical systems.
Bezos stated that a significant portion of the capital will be directed towards acquiring substantial compute power for the company's intensive AI development. Prometheus's ambition is to create an "artificial general engineer" that can accelerate invention and drive "civilizational wealth."
The company, which currently employs 150 people across offices in San Francisco, London, and Zurich, has not yet disclosed specific details about its built technologies. Bezos believes that the productivity gains from AI will lead to "labor scarcity," where demand for human workers exceeds supply, potentially reducing working hours.
Prometheus's substantial valuation positions it as one of the most highly valued AI startups, attracting significant investor interest in the burgeoning physical AI sector, which is seen as more defensible than pure software due to real-world barriers to entry.