Jeff Bezos is in early discussions to raise $100 billion for a new fund that would acquire manufacturing companies and deploy artificial intelligence to accelerate their automation.

The fund, described in investor documents as a "manufacturing transformation vehicle," would target companies in sectors such as chipmaking, defense and aerospace. If successful, it would dwarf many of the largest buyout funds and rival the scale of SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund.

Bezos has met with some of the world's largest asset managers and recently traveled to the Middle East and Singapore to pitch the idea to sovereign wealth fund representatives. JPMorgan Chase is in preliminary talks to support the project through its $10 billion Security and Resiliency Initiative, led by former Berkshire Hathaway executive Todd Combs.

The effort ties directly to Project Prometheus, an AI startup where Bezos serves as co-chief executive alongside Vik Bajaj, a Stanford School of Medicine professor and former executive at Google's Verily life sciences division. Launched last November, Prometheus develops AI models that simulate the physical world, such as airflow around airplane wings or stress failures in metal parts. The company initially plans to offer software tools for engineering simulation and design.

Prometheus has recruited talent from OpenAI and Google DeepMind, and Blue Origin CEO David Limp sits on its board. It raised $6.2 billion in funding last year and is separately seeking up to $6 billion more. Bezos plans to apply Prometheus's technology to improve the efficiency and profitability of firms purchased by the fund.

This marks Bezos's first formal operational leadership role at a tech company since he stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021, though he remains chairman of Amazon's board. He continues to fund Blue Origin, his space company, with billions annually.

The initiative reflects growing interest in applying AI to physical industries, where so-called spatial AI could enable advances in robotics and manufacturing. Amazon has already automated much of its warehousing, approaching a one-to-one robot-to-human ratio. Similar trends appear in other sectors, though manufacturing applications remain in early stages.

Fundraising remains preliminary, with no firm commitments or timelines announced. The Wall Street Journal reported the details based on people familiar with the matter.