Prometheus, the physical‑AI venture co‑founded by Jeff Bezos and former Verily executive Vik Bajaj, announced a $12 billion financing round that values the company at $41 billion.
The capital was contributed by Bezos himself alongside major institutional investors such as JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock.
This marks the second fundraising effort for Prometheus, which debuted late last year after an initial $6.2 billion raise, according to CNBC.
Prometheus is creating what it describes as an “artificial general engineer”—software designed to automate the design and manufacture of complex physical products, ranging from jet engines to pharmaceutical compounds.
The goal is ambitious: to replace large portions of traditional engineering work with AI. While some technologists warn of extensive job displacement, Bezos told CNBC that the productivity boost from AI will generate “labor scarcity,” a scenario in which demand for human workers exceeds supply.
He countered more pessimistic forecasts, arguing that heightened productivity will improve living standards. “Economies with higher productivity will raise the standard of living,” Bezos said. “Two‑earner households may become one‑earner households, and some people who are working overtime may no longer need to.”
Prometheus currently employs roughly 150 staff members across offices in San Francisco, London, and Zurich, and it is keeping details of its current prototypes confidential.
Bezos indicated that a significant portion of the new funding will be allocated to the company’s extensive compute infrastructure.
Bezos is no stranger to large‑scale labor dynamics. As executive chairman of Amazon and its largest individual shareholder, he oversees a workforce of more than 1.5 million worldwide, and the company has recently laid off tens of thousands of employees as it accelerates automation under CEO Andy Jassy.
Valued at $41 billion, Prometheus ranks among the most highly valued AI startups ever funded and represents a major bet on the physical‑AI sector. The industry has attracted increasing venture capital interest, as investors and founders argue that physical‑world applications provide stronger defensive moats than pure software ventures, which rely solely on code.
