Jeff Bezos will take on a formal operational role for the first time since leaving Amazon’s top post, as he becomes co–chief executive officer of a new artificial intelligence startup focused on advanced engineering and manufacturing applications, The New York Times reported on Monday.
The company, named Project Prometheus, has reportedly secured $6.2 billion in funding, partly contributed by the Amazon founder himself. This places the startup among the most heavily financed early-stage AI companies in the world, according to sources cited by the Times.
Bezos Returns to Operational Leadership
This marks Bezos’ first official executive role since stepping down as Amazon CEO in July 2021. While he remains heavily involved in his space company Blue Origin, his designation there is limited to “founder,” not an operational leadership role.
With Project Prometheus, Bezos is entering a rapidly expanding and highly competitive AI landscape. The startup aims to build AI systems tailored for computer engineering, automotive design, and spacecraft manufacturing, placing it in direct competition with dominant players such as OpenAI (backed by Microsoft), Meta, and Google.
Leadership and Team
Bezos will share leadership with Vik Bajaj, a physicist and chemist known for his work at Google X, also called “The Moonshot Factory,” where he collaborated closely with Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
According to the report, Project Prometheus has already:
- Hired nearly 100 employees
- Recruited top researchers from OpenAI, DeepMind, and Meta
- Positioned itself to innovate in AI-driven industrial design and advanced engineering tools
Unverified but High Interest
Reuters noted it could not independently verify the Times report, and both Bezos and his representatives did not respond to requests for comment.