Project Prometheus, which began in November 2025 with an initial funding of $6.2 billion, is focused on creating AI systems that comprehend the physical world, specifically targeting sectors like engineering, manufacturing, aerospace, robotics, and drug discovery. The funding round is still open.
According to the Financial Times, Jeff Bezos is nearing the completion of a $10 billion funding round for his AI lab, valued at $38 billion, on Monday, citing sources familiar with the situation.
The startup, referred to as Project Prometheus internally, has attracted investors like JPMorgan and BlackRock in the new funding round, though it wasn’t finalized at publishing time. BlackRock chose not to comment.
Project Prometheus commenced in November 2025 with $6.2 billion in starting funds. It focuses on “physical AI,” a term for systems that learn by interacting with the physical world and understanding physics, rather than just from text and images.
The lab’s aims include engineering, manufacturing, aerospace, robotics, drug discovery, and logistics automation. Led by CEO Vikram Bajaj, a former Google X scientist, it employs over 120 staff from top AI firms like OpenAI, xAI, Meta, and DeepMind.
Bezos, an original investor, has been spearheading the fundraising with Bajaj. If confirmed, the $38 billion valuation would position Prometheus as one of the highest-valued early-stage AI startups globally.
This comes shortly after Amazon, founded by Bezos, committed up to $25 billion to Anthropic, securing a $100 billion cloud spending commitment in return.
The move highlights the growth in AI infrastructure deals, as Prometheus seeks $10 billion in a single round, surpassing most AI companies’ total historic raises.
Physical AI is different from large language models dominating investment since 2022. LLMs use widely available and low-cost data like text, images, and code, while Physical AI needs specialized, proprietary data on materials, engineering, processes, and physics, which are challenging to obtain at scale.
The rarity offers both an entry barrier and a possible advantage for companies that can gather this data, which may explain why Prometheus attracted major investors like BlackRock and JPMorgan even at the early stage.
This venture marks Bezos’s return to an operational role in tech since leaving Amazon in 2021, showing his ambition to directly apply AI in sectors like manufacturing, aerospace, construction, and logistics, where LLMs have made limited impact.
Whether Prometheus will realize this ambition remains uncertain; it is still in the early stage without publicized products or commercial applications.