Key Points
- Jeff Bezos and Vik Bajaj co‑lead the AI venture Project Prometheus.
- Project Prometheus has raised over $6 billion and employs more than 100 staff.
- The venture acquired General Agents, a San Francisco AI startup founded by Sherjil Ozair.
- General Agents’ product Ace is a real‑time computer‑pilot that automates tasks across apps.
- Acquisition was executed through a corporate entity formed by Bajaj shortly after a private dinner.
- Key AI researchers, including Kamyar Azizzadenesheli, Ashish Vaswani, and Jakob Uszkoreit, are now involved with Project Prometheus.
- The deal positions Project Prometheus to integrate high‑speed AI agents into its manufacturing and automation goals.
- Competitors note both opportunities and challenges arising from the Bezos‑backed acquisition.
Background on Project Prometheus
Project Prometheus is an AI venture co‑led by Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon, and Vik Bajaj, a serial tech entrepreneur. The venture has raised more than $6 billion in funding and has hired over 100 employees. Its stated aim is to build AI systems that can support the manufacturing of computers, cars, and even spacecraft.
Acquisition of General Agents
In early June, Bajaj hosted a private dinner at Saison, a two‑Michelin‑star restaurant in San Francisco, where he discussed AI with a small group of journalists and scientists. Among the attendees was Sherjil Ozair, a former senior researcher at DeepMind and Tesla, who had recently co‑founded General Agents. The following day, corporate filings show that Bajaj formed an entity to acquire General Agents, and the merger was completed a few days later.
The acquisition brought General Agents’ flagship product, Ace—a “real‑time computer pilot” that can execute user prompts across multiple applications at high speed—into Project Prometheus. General Agents’ new address was listed as the headquarters of Foresite Labs, a biotech incubator led by Bajaj, indicating that the two companies would operate from the same location.
Key Personnel and Advisory Roles
Along with Ozair, several other notable AI researchers have joined or advised Project Prometheus. Former Nvidia senior research scientist Kamyar Azizzadenesheli quietly entered the venture early this year, and former Google researchers Ashish Vaswani and Jakob Uszkoreit, co‑authors of a well‑known AI paper, are now serving as founding advisers while running their own startups.
Technology Integration and Market Impact
Ace, released by General Agents in April, is designed to automate tasks on a personal computer by interpreting user prompts and performing actions across apps. A demo video showed Ace downloading an image from Google and sending it via iMessage in under 15 seconds. The technology’s speed—described as “light‑speed” execution—has been highlighted as a key advantage that Project Prometheus hopes to leverage in its broader AI initiatives.
Industry observers note that the acquisition may affect competitors. Donely, a company building a rival to Ace, said the deal could remove a direct competitor but also raise concerns about competing against a venture backed by Bezos.
Future Outlook
While Project Prometheus has not publicly disclosed its formal name, founding date, or headquarters, the acquisition of General Agents signals a strategic move to incorporate fast‑acting computer‑agent technology into its AI roadmap. The venture’s continued growth and the addition of high‑profile AI talent suggest an ambitious push toward advanced automation across multiple sectors.
Source: wired.com