Bezos AI lab plans massive industrial acquisition push

13:50

By: Dakir Madiha

Bezos AI lab plans massive industrial acquisition push

Jeff Bezos’ artificial intelligence venture Project Prometheus is seeking tens of billions of dollars to build a new holding company that will buy industrial businesses reshaped by AI, deepening the Amazon founder’s latest return to an executive role in the technology sector. The planned vehicle would target manufacturers in areas such as aerospace, automotive and advanced computing that are likely to be transformed by AI tools developed at Prometheus, positioning the lab as both a technology developer and an industrial dealmaker.

The fundraising effort, first reported by the Financial Times, would value Project Prometheus at about 30 billion dollars before any new capital is added, according to people familiar with the talks. Prometheus is in early discussions with several major sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, about anchoring the new acquisition platform with long term capital. Bezos has also held talks with JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon about a potential commitment from the bank’s 10 billion dollar Security and Resiliency Initiative fund, which focuses on US supply chains and critical industries.

If successful, the fundraise would mark a shift for AI investment from software centric bets toward large scale ownership of physical assets in factories and industrial plants. Prometheus aims to use its AI research to modernise the operations of acquired companies, from design and engineering workflows to logistics and production, in an attempt to capture the productivity gains created by automation. Investors’ interest in the strategy reflects a belief that AI will accelerate consolidation in industrial sectors, as companies with access to capital and advanced tools race to gain scale.

Project Prometheus emerged from stealth last year with roughly 6.2 billion dollars in initial funding, part of it from Bezos, making it one of the world’s best financed early stage AI start ups. The company focuses on applying artificial intelligence to engineering and manufacturing tasks in fields such as computing hardware, aerospace and automotive, aligning with Bezos’ long standing interest in space and industrial innovation. It has hired more than one hundred specialists, including researchers from leading labs, and has already acquired at least one smaller AI company to accelerate its work on agentic computing systems, according to prior media reports.

The venture also represents Bezos’ most prominent operational role since he stepped down as chief executive of Amazon in 2021, although he remains deeply involved with his space company Blue Origin as its founder. At Prometheus, he serves as co chief executive alongside scientist Vikram “Vik” Bajaj, who previously held senior roles at Google and co founded the AI incubator Foresite Labs. Their leadership team is betting that the next phase of AI will be defined not only by model training and cloud services, but by the ability to buy, integrate and upgrade the industrial backbone of the economy.