What is Project Prometheus? Inside Jeff Bezos' AI startup that's rattled Elon Musk

Billionaire Jeff Bezos is joining the AI race.

The Amazon founder, and third-richest person in the world has co-founded his own artificial intelligence start-up called Project Prometheus and has appointed himself as co-CEO, according to The New York Times.

It's been reported that the company has already secured $6.2 billion in funding and will focus on developing AI for engineering and manufacturing purposes.

Bezos stepped down as chief executive of Amazon in July 2021 (he remains as chairman and founder), and in this time has been getting involved with the space company he founded two decades ago, Blue Origin.

This new venture marks Bezos's first formal operational role since stepping down from his role at Amazon.

But he joins a crowded and ever-growing market as there are lots of other AI companies out such as such as Google, Meta and Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Musk's xAI.

Although Project Prometheus has reportedly already hired 100 employees, poaching several companies such as OpenAI, DeepMind and Meta, The Times reported.

What does 'Prometheus' mean?

In Greek mythology, the name Prometheus means "foresight" and describes a Titan who took fire from the Olympian gods and gave it to humans and is "celebrated for bringing knowledge, progress, and power to human hands" as per National Museums Liverpool

Who has co-founded the company with Bezos?

Joining Bezos on this new venture is co-founder and co-CEO Vik Bajaj, who is a physicist and chemist. He worked closely with Google X's “The Moonshot Factory" and co-founded research lab Verity in 2015. T

Then in 2018, Bajaj co-founded Foresite Labs which "accelerates scientific and technological discovery by integrating AI, data science, and advanced analytics to extract deeper insights and drive innovation."

How has Elon Musk responded?

The news has already caught the attention of fellow billionaire Elon Musk, who took to his platform X/Twitter to share his thoughts on Bezos' latest career move, calling him a "Copycat".

Elsewhere from Indy100, ‘Copycat’: Elon Musk slams Jeff Bezos' new AI startup, Project Prometheus, and Elon Musk excluded from Kris Jenner party over alleged Jeff Bezos feud.

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