Bezos’ AI Startup Prometheus Raises $12 Billion at $41 Billion Valuation

Jeff Bezos is deepening his position in artificial intelligence through Prometheus, his AI startup, which has completed a funding round at a $41 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported. A company spokesperson said the firm raised $12 billion from investors including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and Bezos himself. It was Prometheus’s second capital raise, after securing $6.2 billion toward the end of last year.

The company is run under the oversight of Bezos and Vik Bajaj, a former senior Google executive. Prometheus focuses on building AI models and tools designed to help engineer and manufacture physical products across different industries. The company says it is developing an “artificial general engineer,” meaning automation for the design and production of complex physical systems, from jet engines to medicines.

Prometheus has 150 employees in San Francisco, London and Zurich. In a CNBC interview last year, Bezos rejected concerns that such technology could replace engineers. He argued that higher productivity from AI would instead create labor shortages. “The significant increase in productivity in the economy will raise the quality of life,” he said. “Households today with two earners could become households with one earner, and some people who work overtime may be able to stop doing so.”

Since stepping down as Amazon CEO in July 2021, Bezos has focused much of his time on Blue Origin while also investing in multiple AI ventures, including the robotics companies Physical Intelligence and Generalist AI. Bloomberg said Prometheus is also seeking tens of billions of dollars for a holding company that would buy businesses in areas it believes will benefit from the technology it is developing.