Jeff Bezos reportedly wants $100 billion to buy and transform old manufacturing firms with AI

In Brief Posted: 3:09 PM PDT · March 19, 2026 Image Credits:David Ryder (opens in a new window) / Getty Images Lucas Ropek Jeff Bezos reportedly wants $100 billion to buy and transform old manufacturing firms with AI Jeff Bezos is reportedly seeking $100 billion for a new fund, the likes of which will be used to buy up companies in major industrial sectors and, ultimately, modernize and automate them with AI, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal. The effort is related to Bezos’ AI startup, Project Prometheus. Bezos, whose involvement with the company was originally reported in November, is serving as co-founder and co-CEO, alongside former Google executive Vik Bajaj. Prometheus, which launched with $6.2 billion in funding, is focused on creating high-level AI models to improve manufacturing and engineering in aerospace, automotive, and other sectors. The new manufacturing fund will support that mission by buying up companies that will ultimately use Prometheus’ models. According to the WSJ, Bezos recently traveled to Singapore and the Middle East in his mission to raise funds for the effort. The plan is to acquire companies in areas like aerospace, chipmaking, and defense. TechCrunch reached out to Bezos via Amazon for more information. Topics AI, Amazon, jeff bezos, project prometheus June 9 Boston, MA Actively scaling? Fundraising? Planning your next launch?TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 delivers tactical playbooks and direct access to 1,000+ founders and investors who are building, backing, and closing. REGISTER NOW Newsletters See More Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news TechCrunch Daily News Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage. TechCrunch Mobility TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight.

Startups Weekly Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly. StrictlyVC Provides movers and shakers with the info they need to start their day. No newsletters selected. Subscribe By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.

Related Apps DoorDash launches a new ‘Tasks’ app that pays couriers to submit videos to train AI Aisha Malik 8 hours ago AI Multiverse Computing pushes its compressed AI models into the mainstream Anna Heim 17 hours ago AI Sequen snags $16M to bring TikTok-style personalization tech to any consumer company Sarah Perez 1 day ago Latest in AI In Brief Jeff Bezos reportedly wants $100 billion to buy and transform old manufacturing firms with AI Lucas Ropek 3 hours ago AI Online bot traffic will exceed human traffic by 2027, Cloudflare CEO says Sarah Perez 6 hours ago Apps Meta rolls out new AI content enforcement systems while reducing reliance on third-party vendors Aisha Malik 7 hours ago