Jeff Bezos is supporting a new artificial intelligence startup called Prometheus that aims to build systems capable of performing engineering work across multiple industries, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The company is seeking to position itself as a developer of an AI “general engineer,” a broad ambition that would push beyond chatbots and more narrow software tools.

The report said Prometheus has raised $12 billion, one of the largest early funding rounds in the AI sector. Bezos is backing the company as it tries to take on some of the technical and scientific tasks now handled by human engineers. The startup’s goal is not just to automate routine office work, but to create AI that can help design, test and improve physical and digital systems.

Prometheus appears to be targeting a highly competitive corner of the AI market, where startups and established technology companies are racing to build models that can reason more effectively and carry out specialized work. The idea of a general engineer suggests a system that could be used in areas such as product design, manufacturing, robotics and software development, though the company’s specific product plans were not detailed in the report.

Bezos has remained a prominent figure in technology investing since stepping back from day-to-day control of Amazon. His involvement gives Prometheus both visibility and credibility as it enters a crowded field dominated by companies with deep pockets, large research teams and access to enormous amounts of computing power. A funding round at the level reported would give the startup major resources, but it would also raise expectations for rapid progress.

The Wall Street Journal report did not provide a complete list of investors or outline when the financing was finalized. It also did not describe any products currently available from Prometheus. Still, the size of the round signals confidence from backers that the company could become a significant player in the next phase of AI development.

The emphasis on engineering reflects a broader industry trend. AI developers are increasingly marketing systems as assistants for specialized professional work, including coding, research and scientific analysis. Some companies are trying to build models that can work with greater autonomy and handle more complex tasks with less human prompting. Prometheus’s stated ambition fits within that shift, but it also highlights how far the technology still has to go before it can reliably replace or fully replicate expert human judgment.

A $12 billion raise would place Prometheus among the most heavily funded startups in the sector, underscoring how much capital continues to flow into artificial intelligence despite rising skepticism about valuations and the timeline for commercial returns. For Bezos and his backers, the wager appears to be that a system trained to act like a general engineer could open up new markets across enterprise software, industrial design and advanced automation.

For now, the company remains largely in the early stages and is known mainly for its ambitions rather than a public product launch. But with Bezos behind it and a massive funding round reported, Prometheus is already drawing attention as one of the newest and most ambitious bets in AI.