Jeff Bezos argues that while AI might shrink the workforce by 10x, it will simultaneously create more than 10x new opportunities

The billionaire founder of Amazon has teamed up with Google’s Vik Bajaj to launch Prometheus, a new AI company focused on building an “artificial general engineer.”

Following a $12 billion funding raise announced yesterday, the company is now valued at $41 billion.

The company, co-founded in late 2024, is capable of designing and building complex physical products from phones to jet engines. Bezos provided a chunk of the $6 billion initial funding. JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Goldman Sachs are also among the company’s investors.

The project comes at a time when people fear their jobs will be lost due to the AI boom. However, Bezos argues that while artificial intelligence might shrink the number of people needed for specific tasks by 10x, it will simultaneously create more than 10x as many new opportunities.

He envisions productivity soaring so high that some two-earner households may see one earner voluntarily exit the workforce.

Looking ahead, Prometheus plans to raise a $100 billion fund to acquire established manufacturing companies and use their data to train its AI systems.

Manufacturing makes up roughly 8% of nonfarm employment in the US, according to Semafor.