- Elon Musk poked fun at Jeff Bezos after news broke that Bezos is co-leading a new AI startup called Project Prometheus.
- Prometheus has raised $6.2B and focuses on advanced AI for engineering, aerospace, manufacturing, and the physical economy.
- Bezos’ re-entry into operational leadership adds another heavyweight competitor to the rapidly intensifying AI race.
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have spent years circling the same industries — space, EVs, robotics — and now their rivalry is spilling directly into frontier AI. After news broke that Bezos is returning to hands-on leadership as co-CEO of a new AI startup called Project Prometheus, Elon jumped at the chance to poke fun. When a post highlighted Bezos’ new role, Musk replied: “Haha no way” — a classic, lightly sarcastic jab aimed at the long-running “Bezos follows Musk” narrative.
Bezos Returns to the Front Lines With Project Prometheus
Project Prometheus marks Bezos’ first time back in an operational role since stepping back from Amazon in 2021. The startup has already raised a staggering $6.2 billion, with Bezos sharing the CEO position alongside Vik Bajaj — a veteran of Google’s life sciences division and co-founder of Verily and Foresite Labs. Unlike consumer-focused chatbot companies, Prometheus is targeting “AI for the physical economy,” aiming to build advanced models for engineering, aerospace, automotive design, computer hardware, and large-scale industrial workflows.
The company has quietly assembled nearly 100 researchers, including top talent pulled from Meta, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind. Early comparisons point to a direction similar to Periodic Labs, which uses simulation-driven AI to accelerate scientific and industrial R&D.
Elon vs. Bezos: A Rivalry With a Familiar Pattern
The moment Bezos stepped into high-level AI development, the comparisons to Musk’s Grok and xAI were basically inevitable. From private rockets to electric cars to humanoid robotics, the two tech titans often end up competing in the same arenas — even when they claim otherwise. Musk’s latest jab plays into that public storyline, positioning Bezos’ new AI venture as yet another “copycat” move. Whether it’s lighthearted teasing or a calculated PR dig, Elon knows exactly how to stir the conversation.
What This Means for the Future of AI
Regardless of the trolling, Bezos entering the frontier-model race brings another heavyweight into one of the fastest-moving sectors on the planet. With Prometheus focused on applied industrial AI — not mainstream chatbots — the company could carve out a completely different lane, one that serves scientific, aerospace, and engineering ecosystems.
