Jeff Bezos is in early discussions to raise $100 billion for a new fund aimed at buying manufacturing companies that would be restructured using artificial intelligence to accelerate automation, published the Wall Street Journal this Thursday (19).
The founder of Amazon.com is holding talks with some of the world’s largest asset managers to secure financing for the project, said the WSJ.
Bezos traveled to the Middle East to discuss the new fund a few months ago, according to the newspaper.
Described as a “manufacturing transformation vehicle”, the fund targets companies in sectors considered strategic, such as chip manufacturing, military and aerospace products, according to the WSJ.
Last year, the The New York Times published that Bezos would serve as co-president of a new startup called Project Prometheus, focused on AI for engineering and manufacturing computers, automobiles and spacecraft.
Project Prometheus is in separate negotiations to raise up to $6 billion in funding, the WSJciting sources familiar with the matter, and recently named David Limp, chief executive of Blue Origin, to its board of directors.
Continues after advertising
Bezos could not immediately be reached for comment. The project’s co-founders, Sherjil Ozair and William Guss, did not respond to the company’s requests for comment. Reuters.
