Bezos Targets $38 Billion Valuation for Physical AI Lab

That’s according to a report late Monday (April 20) from the Financial Times (FT), which cites sources familiar with the deal who say the funding would value the company at $38 billion.

The company, which has the code name “Project Prometheus,” is focused on artificial intelligence (AI) models that simulate the behavior of things in the physical world, a field otherwise known as “physical AI.”

The FT says this agreement would make the company one of the best-financed early stage startups in the world. Sources said the new agreement includes an initial $6.2 billion raised in November but has been extended due to demand.

According to the report, the new funding is separate from a holding company for which Prometheus is also raising tens of billions of dollars. The goal of that effort is to acquire equity stakes in companies it believes will be disrupted by Prometheus’ technology, such as engineering, design and architecture firms.

Writing about this effort last month, PYMNTS argued that Bezos’ plan was more noteworthy for its timing than for its scale.

“The proposal arrives at a moment when industrial capacity, geopolitical priorities and technological capability are converging in ways not seen in generations,” that report said.

“Bezos’s strategy appears to rest on the belief that these capabilities have reached a tipping point. Rather than building new factories, the plan centers on acquiring existing ones and upgrading them by using AI to extract more output, reduce downtime and lower costs. It is a bet on AI as infrastructure.”

If the strategy picks up steam, the report added, it is likely its effects will stretch beyond the company directly involved. Rivals might have to adopt similar technologies to remain viable. Suppliers will need to connect to more advanced systems. Investors may focus on companies that can show an ability to modernize.

“The risk, of course, is that manufacturing environments are far more complex and less standardized than digital systems. Integrating AI into legacy operations at scale could challenge the limits of applying software-centric thinking to complex, capital-intensive environments.

Project Prometheus is part of a wave of startups focusing on applying AI AI to physical tasks such as robotics or drug design.

Last year saw the launch of Periodic Labs, a firm founded by veterans of Meta, OpenAI, DeepMind and other major players in the AI space. That company is focused on developing AI that can boost discoveries in fields like chemistry and physics.