10X Bigger Than Amazon: Jeff Bezos Breaks Silence on His Secretive New $70 Trillion AI Venture

Jeff Bezos has spent decades building companies that changed how the world buys, sells and consumes. His latest venture, however, is aimed at a much larger and more complicated target: the physical economy, where products still have to be designed, engineered, and manufactured.

In his first major interview as a chief executive since stepping away from Amazon, Bezos told CNBC's David Faber that Prometheus, the artificial intelligence company he co-founded, is targeting a market he estimates at roughly $70 trillion.

Rather than building another consumer-facing AI product, Bezos is betting that the next major wave of artificial intelligence will come from helping companies create physical products faster, from aircraft engines and pharmaceuticals to computer chips.

Bezos Transforms AI Into the Physical World

Prometheus was founded by Bezos and Vik Bajaj, who serve as co-CEOs. The company had remained largely out of public view, prompting speculation about its technology, funding and long-term goals. Bezos rejected the idea that the company was deliberately hiding its plans.

'We're not being secretive. We're just being heads down and trying to do the work,' he told CNBC. He added: 'We've raised money. We have a brilliant team. We have tremendous work ahead of us.'

Bajaj described Prometheus as one company operating within a much larger industrial transformation. He said the company would continue looking for investors interested in improving manufacturing and expanding the use of AI in industrial processes.

The central idea behind Prometheus is straightforward: use artificial intelligence, advanced simulation and automation to shorten the time needed to move from an idea to a finished product. That could be especially valuable in industries where development cycles can take years and require enormous investment.

From Chatbots to Industrial Machines

Prometheus reflects a broader shift in the AI industry. The first phase of the AI boom focused largely on software, including chatbots, search tools and coding assistants. The next phase is increasingly moving toward what technology leaders describe as physical AI: systems designed to influence how things are built, tested and produced.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has also identified physical AI as a major opportunity, arguing that artificial intelligence will eventually expand beyond digital tasks and play a larger role in manufacturing, robotics and industrial development.

Investment firms have pointed to a similar transition. T. Rowe Price has described a shift towards infrastructure, energy, supply chains and manufacturing as AI development becomes more dependent on physical resources.

For Bezos, that is the opportunity. Amazon transformed retail by making online commerce faster and more efficient. Prometheus is built around the idea that AI could eventually do something similar for the industries that produce the physical world.

Why Jet Engines Matter to Bezos' Vision

Bezos highlighted jet engines as an example of where AI could have a major impact. 'What if instead of a team of 1000 people working for ten plus years to build a next generation of jet engine, what if they could do that in five years or two years or one year?' he said.

He argued that AI systems could simulate complex physics and manufacturing processes inside computers, allowing engineers to test ideas before building physical prototypes.

Bajaj made a similar point, saying jet engines currently require teams of engineers working over long periods, but AI could allow companies to approach complex engineering challenges as an end-to-end computational problem.

That is the foundation of Prometheus' pitch. The company is not attempting to create another consumer AI assistant. It is trying to reduce the time, cost and complexity involved in developing highly technical products.

The Bigger Bet Behind Prometheus

The significance of Prometheus is not simply that Bezos has launched another company. It is that he is making a broader argument about where the value of artificial intelligence will be created.

If AI can successfully move into manufacturing, engineering and scientific development, the impact could extend far beyond individual companies. Faster product design, shorter development cycles and more efficient production could reshape entire industries.

But Prometheus remains an early-stage bet. The company has attracted attention because of Bezos' reputation, resources and ambition, not because it has already proven that its approach will work at scale.

The challenge now is execution. Bezos built Amazon by transforming the way people buy products. With Prometheus, he is betting that the next major technology platform will not only change how people use computers, but how the world builds the things around them.

Whether that vision becomes reality will depend on whether AI can move from impressive demonstrations to dependable industrial systems. For now, Bezos is placing one of the biggest bets yet that the future of artificial intelligence will be built not only in data centres, but also in factories, laboratories and production lines around the world.