Bezos’s Prometheus targets AI tools for engineering physical products
Prometheus is building AI-powered engineering tools for fields including robotics, drug design and manufacturing, according to reports.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
2 min read
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is giving more detail about Prometheus, an AI startup he says is working toward an “artificial general engineer,” The New York Times and CNBC reported. The company is focused on AI tools meant to help design physical products, according to The New York Times.
Prometheus is being built around engineering uses rather than consumer chatbots, according to the reports. The New York Times reported that its tools could apply to robotics, drug design, manufacturing and other areas where companies create complex physical systems.
A highly funded AI company
The New York Times first reported on Prometheus in November, and the company is now being discussed in more detail after raising $12 billion, according to The Verge, citing the Times and CNBC. That financing valued Prometheus at $41 billion, according to the reports.
Bezos serves as co-CEO of Prometheus with Vik Bajaj, The Verge reported. Bajaj previously co-founded Verily, Alphabet’s health-focused research group, according to The Verge.
The startup has about 150 employees, according to The Verge. The reports did not detail specific products, release dates or customers for the engineering tools.
Potential uses in complex hardware
The New York Times reported that Prometheus aims to build AI-powered systems that could assist with the design of physical products across several industries. Robotics, drug design and manufacturing were among the examples cited by the Times.
Bezos pointed to Blue Origin, his space company, as one kind of business that could use the technology, according to The New York Times. “Blue Origin is a perfect example of a company that could benefit from the tools that Prometheus is building,” Bezos told the Times.
Bezos also told The New York Times that companies building sophisticated devices, including rocket engines, would gain from such technology. The comment frames Prometheus as a company aimed at technical design work in industries where engineering cycles can be costly and complex.
CNBC also reported on Bezos’s role and the startup’s ambitions. Together, the reports place Prometheus among a growing set of heavily funded AI companies, though the available details describe its goal broadly: tools that help engineers build things in the physical world.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.