Jeff Bezos Officially Joins the AI Competition as Co-CEO of His New Venture, Project Prometheus

Jeff Bezos inaugurated the AI firm Project Prometheus, assuming the position of Co-CEO alongside Vik Bajaj, supported by $6.2 billion USD in funding.

Photo: Rebecca Blackwell

A formidable new competitor has arisen in the global artificial intelligence landscape. Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos has declared the establishment of his groundbreaking AI initiative, Project Prometheus, and will notably assume the role of Co-CEO. This marks Bezos's first executive operational role in a major corporation since stepping down as Amazon CEO, reflecting a concerted desire to disrupt the highly competitive AI sector.

Project Prometheus, named after the mythological figure known for bestowing fire and knowledge upon humanity, is ostensibly focused on the advancement of next-generation foundational AI models intended to attain generalized intelligence. Industry analysts suggest that the business would directly rival established players like OpenAI and Google DeepMind, leveraging Bezos's substantial resources and engineering methodologies.

Bezos will share the position of Co-CEO of Project Prometheus with Vik Bajaj, a chemist and physicist who worked closely with Google co-founder Sergey Brin at Google X. The project is commencing with $6.2 billion USD in funding. Although he will continue to be substantially involved with Blue Origin, Project Prometheus allegedly encompasses a component dedicated to AI development for spacecraft, in addition to vehicle and computer manufacturing.

The commencement of Project Prometheus is set to rapidly alter the commercial landscape, drawing considerable attention and rivalry as the company prepares to unveil its initial research goals early next year. This transpires one year after Bezos's investment in Physical Intelligence, another start-up focused on the implementation of AI in robotics. Project Prometheus now employs over 100 individuals, attracting top talent from competitors such OpenAI, DeepMind, and Meta.