Prometheus raises $12B to build AI that designs jet engines

Prometheus, a physical AI startup co-founded by Jeff Bezos and former Verily co-founder Vik Bajaj, announced a $12 billion funding round at a $41 billion valuation. The round was led by Bezos himself along with JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock. This follows a $6.2 billion raise late last year. The company is building an 'artificial general engineer' — software designed to automate the entire design and manufacturing process for complex physical systems, ranging from jet engines to pharmaceutical compounds. With only 150 employees across offices in San Francisco, London, and Zurich, Prometheus is keeping its current capabilities under wraps, but Bezos indicated much of the capital will go toward massive compute infrastructure.

Bezos's vision contrasts with many AI skeptics: he predicts that AI-driven productivity will lead to 'labor scarcity' rather than mass unemployment. He argues that higher productivity will raise living standards, allowing two-earner households to become one-earner households and reducing overtime. However, this comes as Amazon, where Bezos serves as executive chairman, has laid off tens of thousands of workers amid its own automation push. Prometheus is one of the most valuable AI startups ever and underscores growing VC interest in physical AI, which investors see as more defensible than pure software due to real-world moats.