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Elon Musk (left); Jeff Bezos (right)
Elon Musk has called Jeff Bezos a “copycat” after reports emerged that the Amazon founder is coming up with a new artificial intelligence startup.
More details about the Jeff Bezos startup
As reported by The New York Times, Bezos is funding his new AI startup, of which he will be co-chief executive. The company, Project Prometheus, has already secured $6.2 billion in investment, including a significant contribution from him.
According to the publication, it is one of the best-financed early-stage start-ups in the world.
With Project Prometheus, Bezos returns to a formal operational role for the first time after stepping down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021, handing the role over to Andy Jassy.
He will serve alongside Vik Bajaj, the co-CEO and co-founder of the AI startup.
Elon Musk reacts
Reacting to the news of Jeff Bezos starting a new AI startup, xAI founder Elon Musk said, “Haha. No way,” with a laughing emoji. In the next line, he added the word “copy” and the emoji of a cat.
Haha no way 😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2025
Copy 🐈 https://t.co/TG8UMrWwQr
Jeff Bezos-led Project Prometheus
Project Prometheus now has only a minimal footprint on LinkedIn. Its “About” section states that the company is building “AI for the physical economy.”
The page lists an estimated employee base between 51 and 200, and both the profile photo and banner are plain black.
According to Bajaj’s LinkedIn profile, the company was founded in November 2025 and is currently operating in San Francisco, London, and Zurich.
According to the NYT, Project Prometheus is entering a market where smaller startups are competing to find their place alongside major tech players such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as established leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic.
The company is building an AI model that will help in engineering and manufacturing in several fields, including computers, aerospace and automobiles.
As reported by the NYT, the company will focus on applying AI to physical tasks, including robotics, drug design and scientific discovery.