Prometheus Raises $12B to Automate Physical Engineering With AI

Prometheus secures massive funding for physical AI ambitions

Prometheus, the physical AI startup co-founded by Jeff Bezos and Vik Bajaj, has raised $12 billion at a $41 billion valuation, making it one of the most richly valued AI companies ever funded. The round drew backing from Bezos himself, along with JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock.

This marks the second major fundraise for Prometheus, which launched late last year with an initial $6.2 billion round. Bajaj previously co-founded Verily, the life sciences division of Google.

Building an artificial general engineer

The startup is developing what it describes as an "artificial general engineer" — AI software designed to automate the design and manufacturing of complex physical systems. The scope ranges from jet engines to pharmaceutical compounds, targeting the replacement of substantial portions of traditional engineering work.

With 150 employees across offices in San Francisco, London, and Zurich, Prometheus has kept technical details of its current capabilities closely guarded. Bezos indicated that a significant portion of the new capital will fund the company's extensive compute infrastructure requirements.

Bezos predicts labor scarcity, not displacement

Bezos's vision for AI-driven productivity diverges sharply from predictions of widespread job losses voiced by other technology leaders. He argues that automation will create "labor scarcity" — a scenario where demand for human workers exceeds supply.

"Significant productivity in the economy is going to raise the standard of living," Bezos told CNBC. "People who today have two-earner households, they'll become one-earner households. Maybe some people who are working overtime will stop working overtime."

The perspective carries particular weight given Bezos's position as executive chairman and largest individual shareholder of Amazon, which employs over 1.5 million people globally. Under CEO Andy Jassy, Amazon has laid off tens of thousands of workers over the past year while accelerating its own automation initiatives.

Why it matters

The $41 billion valuation signals investor conviction that physical AI represents a more defensible business model than pure software plays. Venture capitalists are betting that the complexity of the physical world creates competitive moats that code alone cannot replicate. Prometheus's massive capital raise also underscores the compute-intensive nature of training AI systems capable of handling real-world engineering challenges — a resource requirement that may consolidate advantage among well-funded players.

Physical AI attracts surging investment

Prometheus joins a growing wave of heavily funded physical AI companies. Investors have increasingly directed capital toward startups operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the physical world, viewing the sector as inherently more defensible than software-only ventures.

The details were first reported by CNBC.