Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos is pushing back on the rumor mill around Prometheus, saying the AI startup is not building robots and is focused on engineering tools instead. He also described it as the project taking up the bulk of his time. Speaking about the company, Bezos said there has been “some speculation” and added, “We thought, look, we're not being secretive, right? We're just being heads down and trying to do the work, but ... when you raise this much money, people do get curious.” What Prometheus Is Building Bezos said Prometheus is developing AI for invention and physical engineering, including tools that could speed up the “invention loop.” He described the idea as a way to help engineers design physical objects more easily. He called it a “very, very modern version” of CAD, or computer-aided design software, while also saying it is still early and that he was oversimplifying the effort. Money, Team And Backing Prometheus has raised $12 billion in Series B funding at a valuation of roughly $41 billion. Bezos said he participated in that round after also contributing to the company’s first fundraising effort. He said the startup has assembled about 150 people and has “a brilliant team” with “tremendous work ahead of us.” Prometheus has shared few details about its other backers. How Bezos Is Dividing His Time Bezos said Prometheus is now “the bulk of my time,” while he also spends a lot of time on Blue Origin and on AI at Amazon. He said the common thread across those efforts is artificial intelligence. That overlap may also create practical links between his companies. Bezos said it is “easy to imagine” Prometheus becoming a customer of Amazon Web Services on the compute side, and also easy to imagine Amazon or other hyperscalers using Prometheus tools to improve data centers. Still, he said the companies would remain “at arm’s length,” and noted that Prometheus already uses compute from multiple sources because capacity is scarce. Where Prometheus Fits In Bezos’ Broader Portfolio Prometheus is Bezos’ first CEO role since leaving Amazon in 2021. He remains Amazon’s executive chairman, leads Blue Origin, and serves as executive chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. Bezos also said last month that his time across Amazon, Blue Origin and Prometheus is largely spent on AI, underscoring how central the technology has become to his post-Amazon pursuits. Blue Origin, meanwhile, is recovering from a fiery New Glenn rocket explosion during a hot-fire test in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The company said it would rebuild what needs rebuilding and get back to flying after the setback. Read more at: www.cnbc.com

Bezos Says Prometheus Isn’t Making Robots, And It’s Taking Most Of His Time