Elon Musk mocked Bezos on X after the Amazon founder launched $6.2 Billion AI startup Prometheus, focusing on engineering and manufacturing applications.
Elon Musk on Saturday November 22, 2025, mocked Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as a “copycat” after Bezos announced his entry into the artificial intelligence (AI) sector with a new $6.2 billion startup, Project Prometheus.
Prometheus, which Bezos will co-lead as CEO alongside Vik Bajaj, aims to develop AI tools for engineering and manufacturing across industries including computers, aerospace, and automobiles. The venture represents Bezos’s first operational role since stepping down from Amazon in 2021.
The startup has already assembled a team of over 100 employees, drawing talent from leading AI organizations such as Meta, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind. Its focus on “AI for the physical economy” signals Bezos’s intent to apply advanced machine learning to tangible, industrial challenges rather than purely digital applications.
Reacting to the announcement on X, Musk wrote, “Haha no way,” followed by “copy” and a cat emoji, drawing attention from the tech and financial media. Musk’s comment underscores the ongoing rivalry between Silicon Valley leaders competing to dominate the AI sector, a market now projected to be worth trillions of dollars in coming years.
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Project Prometheus will be co-managed by Bezos and Vik Bajaj, co-founder of Life Sciences Investment firm Foresite Labs and Verily, the life sciences division of Alphabet. The company is expected to pursue cutting-edge AI research with applications across manufacturing, robotics, and other physical infrastructure projects.
Bezos’s return to a CEO role comes as the global AI race accelerates, with major technology companies ramping up investments in AI research, compute infrastructure, and talent acquisition. Analysts say Prometheus represents a high-profile bet on industrial AI, a sector that experts predict will complement existing digital AI applications.
The launch adds to Bezos’s post-Amazon ventures, which have included space exploration firm Blue Origin and philanthropic initiatives. By contrast, Musk has concentrated on electric vehicles, space travel, and AI initiatives, including his acquisition of X and ventures like xAI.
The public exchange between Musk and Bezos highlights the increasingly personal and high-stakes nature of the AI industry, where tech magnates are not only competing for market share but also for influence over the development of next-generation AI technologies.
Prometheus’s early moves and staffing choices suggest Bezos is positioning the startup to become a major player in industrial AI, leveraging expertise from top-tier AI research institutions to accelerate innovation in physical systems.