{"text":[[{"start":12.45,"text":"Jeff Bezos is close to a $10bn fundraising deal from investors at a $38bn valuation for his lab, which is focused on AI that can understand the physical world and transform engineering and manufacturing."}],[{"start":26.5,"text":"The company, code-named Project Prometheus, is planning to imminently close a funding round at a valuation of $38bn, including the new money, according to people familiar with the deal. "}],[{"start":37.9,"text":"The agreement, which would make the company one of the best-financed early-stage start-ups globally, includes an initial $6.2bn raised in November but has been extended because of demand, the people added. Bezos is among the initial investors."}],[{"start":53.599999999999994,"text":"The Amazon founder’s AI venture marks the first time he has served in an operational role since stepping down as chief executive of the ecommerce giant in 2021. "}],[{"start":63.849999999999994,"text":"The new funding is separate from a holding company that Prometheus is also raising tens of billions of dollars for, which aims to acquire equity stakes in businesses that it anticipates will be disrupted by the technology it is building, as previously reported by the FT."}],[{"start":80.05,"text":"This could include engineering, architecture and design companies. The investment holding company would have access to data from its portfolio businesses to train Prometheus’s AI systems."}],[{"start":93.05,"text":"Bezos and co-chief executive Vikram Bajaj have been leading both fundraising efforts. "}],[{"start":99.5,"text":"JPMorgan and BlackRock are among the investors in the new round, said a person familiar with the matter. The round is expected to close soon but has not been finalised."}],[{"start":109.15,"text":"Prometheus, BlackRock and JPMorgan declined to comment. "}],[{"start":113.30000000000001,"text":"The company — based in San Francisco, with offices in London and Zurich — is working on AI systems that understand the laws of physics and can be applied across physical industries. It aims to use specialist models to speed up manual processes and make them less resource-intensive."}],[{"start":131.5,"text":"It has hired hundreds of staff to support efforts, including AI scientists, experts in specific industries and people who have experience building out computing infrastructure. "}],[{"start":142.35,"text":"Earlier this month, the FT reported that the company had poached Kyle Kosic, a former OpenAI employee and xAI co-founder, to work on infrastructure projects. Kosic had previously led efforts at Elon Musk’s AI start-up to build its Colossus supercomputer."}],[{"start":168.14999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776744184_6536.mp3"}