Jeff Bezos reportedly returns to the trenches as co-CEO of new AI startup, Project Prometheus

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos appears to be stepping back into day-to-day operations, this time through a massive new AI venture. According to a report from The New York Times, Bezos is partially backing a new startup called Project Prometheus, which has already raised $6.2 billion and will see him take on the role of co-chief executive.

Bezos will reportedly share the position with Vik Bajaj, a seasoned biotech and AI leader who previously co-founded Google’s life sciences division. Bajaj also co-founded Verily, the Alphabet-owned biotech company, and helped start Foresite Labs, an AI-centred division under investment firm Foresite Capital. The report notes that Bajaj recently left the firm to launch Prometheus.

If confirmed, this marks Bezos’ first return to an operational leadership role since stepping down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021.

According to the NYT report, Project Prometheus aims to build AI products for engineering and manufacturing, targeting areas such as computing hardware, aerospace, and automotive development. The company describes its focus as “AI for the physical economy” on its LinkedIn page. Its approach is said to resemble that of Periodic Labs, a company developing technology that simulates physical environments to accelerate scientific research and train more advanced AI models.

Project Prometheus has reportedly assembled nearly 100 employees, including researchers and engineers from major AI organisations as Meta, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind.

Neither Amazon nor Vik Bajaj immediately responded to requests for comment.