Project Prometheus, an AI startup partially funded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will start with a financial infusion of $6.2 billion, making it one of the most well-financed early-stage start-ups in the world, according to one report that cites people familiar with the company.

Bezos will run the company as chief executive officer, reportedly focused on creating AI systems that gain knowledge from the physical world, rather than just processing digital information, like AI chatbots.

In the long term this could benefit advertisers by combining digital and physical data, but initially the company will explore how AI supports engineering and manufacturing. 

Engineering could be related to space exploration. Bezos founded space technology company Blue Origin more than two decades ago. The company's New Glenn rocket had a successful flight last week as it makes its way to Mars.

Project Prometheus has no direct connection to advertising other than it has already hired nearly 100 employees, such as researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Meta Platforms, according to The New York Times, citing sources with knowledge of the company’s structure.

The startup does have a LinkedIn page, which states a few details and calls it “AI for the physical economy.”

Bezos will lead the company with co-CEO and co-founder Vik Bajaj, a life sciences veteran who previously worked on research at Alphabet’s “moonshot” unit Google X. He started at Project Prometheus less than one month ago, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Bajaj also is managing director at Foresite Capital Management and co-founder.

Last month, the AI startup Periodic Labs emerged from stealth mode with $300 million in funding backed by Andreessen Horowitz, DST, Nvidia, Accel, Elad Gil, Jeff Dean, Eric Schmidt, and Jeff Bezos.

Periodic Labs was co-founded by Ekin Dogus Cubuk. He led the materials and chemistry team at Google Brain and DeepMind.

One of his projects, an AI tool called GNoME, discovered more than 2 million new crystals in 2023 -- materials that could one day be used to power new generations of technology, researchers said.