Who is Vik Bajaj, co-CEO of Jeff Bezos' AI startup Project Prometheus?

Vikram Bajaj, aka Vik, has been named co-chief executive officer (CEO) of the artificial intelligence (AI) startup Project Prometheus, where he will lead alongside Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The company, partly backed by Bezos, is launching with a huge fund of $6.2 billion, making it one of the most well-financed early-stage AI startups in the world, according to GuruFocus, a stocks research platform. Bajaj brings strong scientific and technical experience from his time at Google X, Verily, and Foresite Labs.

Who is Vik Bajaj?


Vik Bajaj is a physicist and chemist, and is well-known in the tech world. His LinkedIn profile states that he cofounded Foresite Labs which aims to use AI to change the way new technologies are discovered, developed, and built. However, The New York Times reported that he recently left his role as CEO of Foresite Labs to join Project Prometheus.

Before Foresite, Bajaj was chief scientific officer at GRAIL, a company focussed on early-stage cancer detection. He also cofounded Verily, under Alphabet, where too he was the chief scientific officer and chaired its Scientific Advisory Board. He also cofounded Xaira Therapeutics in January 2023 and continues to serve as its director and interim president, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Foresite Capital’s website notes that alongside his industry roles, he has also worked as an academic principal investigator and is currently an adjunct associate professor at Stanford University. Bajaj earned his PhD in physical chemistry from MIT, following his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

What is Project Prometheus?

Project Prometheus is an AI startup aiming to develop artificial intelligence that learns from real-world physical processes, not just digital information. Its work focuses on areas such as aerospace, advanced manufacturing, and applied engineering.

The company has not yet revealed details about its launch date or location. Even so, it has already hired around 100 employees, including top researchers from organisations such as OpenAI, DeepMind, and Meta, according to people who spoke to the New York Times.