Who is Vikram Bajaj, the MIT-trained scientist steering Bezos' AI Project?

Vikram “Vik” Bajaj has been named co-chief executive of Project Prometheus, a new artificial intelligence (AI) company that has drawn attention for its secrecy and massive funding. He will share the top role with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

 

The startup has secured $6.2 billion in initial capital and plans to develop advanced AI systems designed for the physical economy, including manufacturing, engineering and complex industrial products.

 

Who is Vikram Bajaj?

 

Vikram “Vik” Bajaj is a scientist, physicist, and chemist whose work spans academic research, biotechnology and AI. He recently updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect his new role as co-founder and co-chief executive of Project Prometheus. According to The New York Times, Bezos will serve as co-CEO alongside Bajaj.

 

Bajaj has co-founded and led several cutting-edge science and technology ventures:

 

• Xaira Therapeutics: Co-founded in January 2023, where he continues to serve as director and interim president.

• Foresite Capital: Managing Director since 2017, working on investments in technology, data science, precision health and biotech.

• Foresite Labs: Co-founder and CEO since October 2018, helping build startups working at the intersection of biology and data.

 

Before joining Foresite, he was the Chief Scientific Officer at GRAIL, a health-tech company developing early cancer detection tools. Bajaj also co-founded Verily (Google Life Sciences) and served as its Chief Scientific Officer from 2013 to 2016.

 

The New York Times reported that he worked closely with Google co-founder Sergey Brin during his time at Google X, the research lab known as “The Moonshot Factory".

 

On the academic front, Bajaj has held strong ties to leading institutions. He has served as:

• Adjunct Associate Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine (since 2014)

• Advisory Board Member, UC Berkeley College of Chemistry (2015-2021)   

 

Education and awards

 

Bajaj earned his PhD in physical chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he conducted advanced research in the physical sciences. He earlier completed a combined Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

His scientific awards include Anatole Abragam Prize (2012), R&D 100 Awards (2011 and 2013) and DOE LBL Innovation Grant (2013)

 

What is Project Prometheus?

 

Project Prometheus is developing AI tools tailored for complex, real-world physical systems, a field that aligns with Bezos’s long-standing interest in space, engineering and advanced manufacturing.

 

The company aims to create AI models capable of learning in much more sophisticated ways than traditional chatbots. Its work will span sectors such as computing, aerospace, automotive engineering and industrial manufacturing. The startup has not yet announced where it will be headquartered.

 

With $6.2 billion in launch funding and nearly 100 employees from OpenAI, DeepMind and Meta, Project Prometheus has quickly become one of the world’s most well-funded early-stage AI companies.