Jeff Bezos is close to finalizing a $10 billion funding round for Project Prometheus, his physical AI laboratory, at a $38 billion valuation. JPMorgan and BlackRock are among the investors. Launched in November 2025 with $6.2 billion in initial funding, the lab focuses on AI systems that understand real-world physics, targeting engineering, manufacturing, aerospace, robotics, and drug discovery. Led by former Google X scientist Vikram Bajaj, the lab has over 120 employees from OpenAI, xAI, Meta, and DeepMind. The $38B valuation would make Prometheus one of the most richly valued early-stage AI startups globally. Unlike LLMs trained on abundant text data, physical AI requires scarce proprietary data on material behavior and real-world physics, creating a significant barrier to entry.
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