Jeff Bezos' stealth AI venture Project Prometheus has quietly acquired General Agents, an agentic computing startup that builds AI systems capable of taking over computers and automating complex tasks. The $6.2 billion venture, co-led by Bezos and biotech veteran Vik Bajaj, is targeting AI systems for manufacturing computers, cars, and spacecraft - and the General Agents acquisition reveals how seriously they're taking the computer agent revolution.
The deal started with dinner conversation and closed within days. In early June, tech entrepreneur Vik Bajaj hosted an off-the-record AI dinner at Saison, one of San Francisco's most exclusive restaurants. Among the scientists and journalists was Sherjil Ozair, a late addition who'd previously worked at DeepMind and Tesla. What Bajaj didn't mention over the Michelin-starred meal was that he'd been quietly building something massive with Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos.
Corporate filings obtained by WIRED reveal that Bajaj formed an acquisition entity the morning after that dinner. Four days later, Ozair's agentic AI startup General Agents had been absorbed into Project Prometheus - Bezos' $6.2 billion bet on AI systems that can support manufacturing everything from computers to spacecraft.
The acquisition brings critical technology to Prometheus' ambitious manufacturing focus. General Agents had built 'Ace,' described as a 'realtime computer pilot' that can take over any computer and execute complex tasks based on user prompts. In demo videos, Ace downloads images from Google and sends them via iMessage in under 15 seconds. It's part of the emerging computer agent category - AI that can automate tasks across multiple applications without human intervention.
'What General Agents really cracked early on is speed - Ace runs on your computer at lightspeed,' says Harsha Abegunasekara, CEO of competing startup Donely. 'We've been working on that for six months and haven't achieved it yet.' The speed advantage explains why Prometheus wanted the entire company, not just the talent.
Project Prometheus has been operating in stealth mode since early 2024, but the talent acquisition spree tells the story. Over 100 employees have joined, including former OpenAI research scientist William Guss, who co-founded General Agents with Ozair. Two days after the acquisition closed, Guss posted on social media asking for introductions to US manufacturing contacts, writing 'I'd love to talk really trying to understand the space and see some factories.'
