Two of the world's wealthiest people could be gearing up for a new battle, with Amazon.com and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos taking on the artificial intelligence sector and billionaire Elon Musk.
From Space to AI
Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994 and stepped down as CEO in 2021. After stepping down, Bezos has devoted more of his personal time to Blue Origin, the space company he founded in 2000.
Blur Origin is a direct competitor to Musk's SpaceX, and the company recently successfully demonstrated its reusable rocket technology, putting it in a unique position to land more space contracts.
While Bezos and Musk have clashed previously over their space companies and deal competition, the two could be headed for a new collision course, with Bezos creating a new artificial intelligence company.
Bezos recently created AI company Project Prometheus, a company focused on AI for sectors like space, automotive, engineering and computers, as reported by the New York Times. Project Prometheus is using AI for scientific discovery, drug design and robotics, according to the report.
The company has raised $6.2 billion in early funding, with Bezos among its financial backers. Bezos is also serving as co-CEO of Project Prometheus, marking his first official leadership role with a company since stepping down from Amazon.
Vik Bajaj, who formerly worked at Alphabet Inc.'s moonshot division and was a founder of Verily, a life sciences company owned and operated by Alphabet, is a co-founder and the co-CEO of Project Prometheus.
Project Prometheus is using AI for scientific discovery, drug design and robotics, according to the report.
The company has hired over 100 people, including former employees of other AI-focused companies like Meta Platforms, DeepMind and OpenAI.
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Head-to-Head Battle Heats Up
With a focus on AI for space, automotive and robotics, Project Prometheus could be in direct competition with xAI and in some regards Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).
Musk is attached to both companies and similar to his SpaceX being a direct competitor to Blue Origin, the billionaire could now be faced with fending off competition from Bezos once again.
At Tesla, AI is a key element in future growth platforms like FSD and the Optimus Bot. xAI owns the X social media platform and Grok, an AI chatbot for users. While the companies are currently separate, Tesla is exploring an investment in xAI, and with Musk attached to both companies, they remain intertwined.
By creating AI tools and platforms for automotive, space, and robotics, Project Prometheus could quickly become a direct competitor to companies run by Musk or help provide the tools for Musk's competitors. Imagine Tesla rivals working with a company backed by Bezos or other social media companies, turning to Project Prometheus for AI tools to take on X.
Tesla bulls have argued that the company's future growth is less about electric vehicles and more about AI and robotics, a theory backed by Musk. The Tesla CEO has said that robots could be the majority of the company's future valuation.
The AI sector is crowded and has attracted investments from some of the largest companies in the world. With a new billionaire entering the race, consumers and investors will be closely following the future of Project Prometheus.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
